Lewis Haines, 31, from Wales, confessed to the murder of 18-year-old Lily Sullivan. Her half-naked body was found in a body of water near the club where the couple met. The judge believes that Haines killed the teenager because he did not want it to be revealed that he was trying to get her to have sex. He is facing life imprisonment.
Lewis Haines met 18-year-old Lily Sullivan on the night of December 16-17, 2021 at a nightclub in Pembroke, west Wales. There they kissed. Witnesses testified that they heard a friend of Haines shout at him that “he has a girlfriend and Lily is only 18”. However, the couple left the club together and went to a nearby alley.
In the morning, Sullivan’s body was found in the Mill Pond, not far from the club. The 18-year-old girl was naked from the waist up, her body was lying with her back up. In the alley, the girl’s purse and traces of her blood were secured.
She refused him sex
Judge Paul Thomas said during Tuesday’s hearing that he believed Haines had murdered Sullivan after she refused him sex. “I’m sure Lily wanted to go home. It must have frustrated the drunken Haines. He insisted, she resisted. Lily certainly didn’t take her clothes off voluntarily. Haines took them off her before throwing her into the water,” the judge said.
He added that, in his opinion, the murder was motivated by the fear that the 31-year-old’s relatives, including his partner, would find out what happened, and that he himself would be accused of attempted rape. “He couldn’t accept the risk,” said Thomas. Investigators found that the girl died of suffocation and was punched in the face prior to her death. No evidence of a sexual attack was found.
When Haines started harassing Sullivan, she called her mother to pick her up from the club. The connection was broken during the attack. The fearful woman tried to call the 18-year-old again more than 30 times. When attempts to contact failed, Anna Sullivan came to the vicinity of the club to look for her daughter. As it was established during the investigation, Haines escaping from the crime scene passed by the unaware mother of his victim.
He confessed to the murder
After returning home in the nearby village of Lamphey, Haines confessed to his partner the murder. – I strangled someone. It lies in a water reservoir – the 31-year-old was supposed to say. Later he called his mother and told her about the murder too. She passed the information on to Lewis’s husband, stepfather. It was he who informed the police. On arrival, officers found Lily’s body.
Haines confessed to the murder of the 18-year-old but denied having sexually harassed her. He added that he was trying to get her out of the water. However, the judge did not take this into account as an extenuating circumstance. He noticed that the man hadn’t called for help. He is facing life imprisonment. The hearing will continue on Friday when the verdict is to be announced.
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“The Guardian”, Sky News, BBC
Main photo source: Dyfed-Powys Police