Murder victim’s sister speaks of nightmare after horrific assault

THE sister of a disabled man murdered by his friend has spoken about her devastation – saying it would have been better for him to have died on the night of the attack.

Instead, Robert Young was left unable to walk or talk properly after the brutal assault and died 16 months later.

As reported in Friday’s Echo, Richard Thomas was last week convicted of Robert’s murder.

In February 2014 Thomas had taken 75 Valium pills and drunk 20 pints before killing the 55-year-old by stamping on his head.

He told police his disabled victim had hurt himself falling over.

Now, in the wake of Thomas’ conviction, Robert’s sister Helen Young said: “We all said that Richard Thomas should have killed him [Robert] that night.

“It would have been better for Robert than to see him suffer like that for 16 months.”

The family have never discovered the truth of what happened the night of the attack.

“The only person who knows what happened in that bungalow is Richard Thomas,” Helen said.

“A couple of times I tried to bring it up with Robert and he would cry. He could not tell us,” she added.

Before he died, Robert needed a hoist to help him get out of bed, he had to wear a nappy and had little insight into his injuries. His weight dropped to less than 7st.

Helen, 55, said she thinks Thomas should be sentenced to at least 10 years in prison for the murder, saying: “He can go away and rot wherever they may put him.”

Speaking of her brother’s ordeal, she added: “We went through 16 months of sheer hell with Robert. We watched him from the time he was put in a coma to when he went on to the neurology ward, right through to when he died.”

The family were not expecting him to die.

“We knew he was not going to get any better, we were just happy that he was still alive.

“When he was in Rookwood, before he went to Mountain Ash, there was a bit of progress where he was able to hold a cup. That was a big deal.

“He would listen to us but he could not really speak. But he would nod to say yes or no.

“That was something for us to go on.”

In 2014 Thomas, of Treharris, was sentenced to nine years and nine months at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court for what was then grievous bodily harm.

“Richard Thomas kept looking at me in court and giving me dirty looks, as if I had done something wrong,” Helen said.

“He even smirked at me one time. There was no remorse there at all.”

During his murder trial, Thomas told the jury at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court: “I can’t remember what happened – it’s all a blur.”

Helen said: “If I was in the dock accused of murder and thinking that I couldn’t remember what had happened, the first thing I would have done would have been to say to the family, ‘I’m so sorry for what I have done.’” But there was no apology. “Robert can rest in peace now,” the mum-of-three and grandmother-offour said. “We have finally got the justice we have wanted. “We’ll never get over it. “I’ve got Robert and David’s photos by my side now.”

David was another brother of Helen’s and has also died.

“I always talk to them,” Helen said. “I talk to them when I am doing the cleaning and lift up their photos.

“After the verdict I looked up in the air and said, ‘We did it Robert, We did it!’ But it has worn me down these last couple of years.”

Robert’s blood and hair were found on the sole of Thomas’ shoe.

Thomas denied murder, claiming diminished responsibility due to the vast amount of drink and drugs he had consumed.

“Richard Thomas was a nasty man,” Helen, from Aberfan, said.

“Once when I tried to throw him out of Robert’s house he spat in my face, and once he raised his fist to me.

“I said, ‘Go on, I’ll go to the police, I’m not frightened of you.’”

She added: “I hated him from the night he did what he did to my brother and I did not like him before that.

“If I could have Robert back, I would. I think about him every day, the same as I do my other brother.”