Ex-Wales ace on murder heartbreak
FORMER Wales international Nathan Brew has spoken publicly for the first time about the murder of his brother in an unprovoked attack outside a nightclub.
Matthew Thomas was hit only once by Daniel Pickering during an attack in Neath in 2022 – a case of a one-punch death. In a new S4C programme to be aired tomorrow night, Brew opens up about the moment doctors revealed that Matthew, who was 47, would not make it through the night – with the family encouraged to say their goodbyes.
“We’re much closer as a family after what happened to Matthew, because a tragedy like this brings you together,” said Nathan.
“We got a call at 1 o’clock in the morning to say that all his vitals had changed, and we should go to the hospital. We went straight there – that was difficult. We all went as a family.
“The consultant said ‘I’m really sorry Matthew is going to die – he will die before the morning, and this is your chance to go in and say your goodbyes’. I remember looking at his face. There was a little cut on it but otherwise he looked fine. I felt slightly confused, thinking ‘he looks ok, so why do they say he’s not likely to get through it?’.”
It will see former Dragons and Scarlets centre Nathan, along with his sisters Rachel Brew and Kath Thomas, share the story of Matthew’s death and the impact it had on their family.
Daniel Pickering, 34, had been drinking alcohol all day and had taken more than £100 worth of cocaine before he attacked
Matthew. Pickering was found guilty of murder and sentenced to a minimum of 18 years behind bars, with police describing the attack as unprovoked and an example of how excessive drinking and drug taking can trigger violent behaviour.
“He had a totally merciless look on his face. No remorse at all,” said Nathan about seeing Pickering in court. To hear Daniel Pickering’s story – that he had done something similar before (although not to the same extent) made us all quite angry, not just at Daniel Pickering but at the system, because he should never have been out.”
Nathan Brew: Un Eiliad Un Ergyd (One Second One Punch) – will air on S4C tomorrow at 9pm, while it will also be available on S4C Clic and BBC iPlayer.