Father’s fury as murderer who battered his son to death while he walked home from a nightclub is freed early from his life sentence
- Ben had been walking when he was attacked, stripped naked, and left to drown
The heartbroken father of a murdered teenager has been left ‘disgusted’ after learning his son’s killer was freed early.
Ben Bellamy was just 17 when he was brutally punched, kicked, and stamped on before his battered body was thrown naked into the sea by his killers.
Ben had been walking home from a nightclub when he encountered a group that included Joshua Declan Thomas, then aged 15.
They lured Ben to the seafront in Swansea before carrying out the terrible beating, stripping his clothes off and stealing his bank card.
Thomas was convicted of murder and robbery and jailed for life with a minimum term of 18 years – but that was later cut to 17 years and last month he was released.
Ben’s disgusted father John, 53, said: ‘I feel let down and angry by Thomas’ release. He’s a killer and cannot be trusted.
‘He’s simply fooled the parole board and played the system to get freedom.
Ben Bellamy was just 17 when he was brutally punched, kicked, and stamped on before his battered body was thrown naked into the sea by his killers
William Rees, Tony Rees (both uncles of Ben) and Detective Supintendent Ken Isaac in 2005
‘Our family has a life sentence. Why hasn’t he?’
Ben, from Sketty Park, Swansea, had been walking home from Cinderella’s nightclub in the city in September 2005 when he was attacked, stripped naked, and left to drown.
His body was discovered by a jogger the next morning who initially thought he had seen a ‘dummy’ on the shore.
Alarm engineer John said described Thomas as an ‘animal’ and said he was ‘totally disgusted’ at his release after the Court of Appeal cut the minimum term in 2017.
He said: ‘I live with the image of seeing my boy Ben in the mortuary blood still running out of his ear and his unrecognised battered face.
‘If only the justice system could feel the pain we feel as a family every day I wonder if they’d be so happy about letting Thomas out to society.
Joshua Thomas was convicted of murder and robbery and jailed for life with a minimum term of 18 years – but that was later cut to 17 years and last month he was released
Joel Taylor (pictured here) and Andrew Rafferty, both 18 at the time, were also jailed following the attack. Taylor was handed a sentence of 22 years minimum for murder, while Rafferty served seven years in prison for robbery after his manslaughter conviction was quashed.
‘I can’t understand how you can take another life in the manner Ben’s was taken and be given a chance to live your life.
‘Ben was just starting his life and he brutally took it away. I’m sure everyone in the country feels that if you kill another human the way Ben was killed you should be locked up until you die.
‘Ben was an intelligent boy who was going to go to university and he would have ended up doing whatever he wanted.
‘We used to follow Swansea city football together. I miss going to the games with him and talking about the football.’
Joel Taylor and Andrew Rafferty, both 18 at the time, were also jailed following the attack. Taylor was handed a sentence of 22 years minimum for murder, while Rafferty served seven years in prison for robbery after his manslaughter conviction was quashed.
The Parole Board said a panel gave ‘very careful consideration’ to a statement from Ben’s family which ‘clearly conveyed the impact of Thomas’ crimes’.
It said a release plan for Thomas included him living in designated accommodation and having ‘strict limitations’ on ‘contacts, movements, and activities’.
It added: ‘The panel concluded this plan was robust enough to manage Mr Thomas in the community at this stage’ and that prison was ‘no longer necessary for the protection of the public’.
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