Gwynedd man found guilty of manslaughter of businessman father

Tony Thomas, 45, of Penrhyn Isaf, Minffordd, Penrhyndeudraeth, had been accused of killing Dafydd Thomas, 65, on a track near his home on March 25, 2021.

He had pleaded not guilty to both murder and manslaughter, but at Mold Crown Court today (January 26), the jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict regarding the latter after roughly three hours’ deliberation.

Thomas will be sentenced at Caernarfon Crown Court on February 24.

The charge of murder was dropped against Thomas yesterday.

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Since the trial opened last week, the court had heard the relationship between Thomas and his father had been deteriorating for some time prior to his death.

He had been in dispute with his father, who lived roughly 500 yards away from him, regarding the ownership of his home and the keeping of pigs.

Thomas had previously accepted inflicting unlawful violence on his father, who had not long retired after being a director of Gwynedd Environmental Waste Services Limited, and had turned more of his attention towards farming.

An email sent to Thomas from Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board on March 25, 2021 notified him of pig movements, which he believed his father was responsible for.

This “angered” Thomas, who said he had been trying to eradicate disease from the pigs he bred, and was concerned that his father bringing in his own pigs would jeopardise this.

After stopping his father while he was about to return home in his pickup truck, Thomas admitted stamping on him once but denied punching him at all.

He described his attack as a “reflex action” with “no intention”, and lasting “10 to 15 seconds”.

Thomas said that he was “overwhelmed with anger” and felt “like a fuse (was) blowing in my head”.

But he held his stepmother, Elizabeth, responsible for his death, alleging that she kicked him to the head after he had left the scene and made his way home.

A provisional cause of death was given as inhalation of blood due to severe blunt trauma facial injuries, and Thomas was arrested at roughly 3.30pm that day.

The court had also heard from three consultant forensic psychologists during the trial; one of whom, Dr Yasir Kasmi, said Thomas was suffering from schizoaffective disorder at the time of his father’s death.

Dr Kasmi, based at The Spinney mental health service in Manchester, interviewed Thomas on four occasions, and believed he was “unable to exercise self-control or form rational judgment”.

When he spoke to Thomas about his father, he said Thomas told him: “He was just horrible to me from day one.

“People think I’ve got a mental illness, but I was abused for 44 years, and yes, I flipped.”

Dr Kasmi said Thomas called his father a “narcissist” to him, that he had “no positive memories” of him and described the abuse he inflicted on him as “so subtle”, such as when he did not invite him to his grandmother’s 60th birthday party.

Thomas has also been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, with Dr Kasmi adding that he has previously held grandiose ideas about himself and struggled to sleep properly.

He had also claimed he had invented a COVID-19 vaccine five years before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

He told Dr Kasmi that he had upcoming appointments on the matter with Dr Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England and chief medical adviser to the UK Government.

Thomas was initially remanded in HMP Berwyn following his father’s death, but was later moved to The Spinney.

He also said he had seen papers saying his father wanted him to kill him so that he would go to prison.

Judge Rhys Rowlands presided over the case, while Gordon Aspden KC defended Thomas, and Gordon Cole KC was prosecuting.

Following the verdict being returned, Judge Rowlands told Thomas: "You have been convicted by the jury of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility.

"It goes without saying that this is a particularly sad case, with your father losing his life at a time when he was newly retired, something he and his wife were looking forward to after years of hard work.

"What might, or ought to have been, a long and happy retirement was denied him after an explosive loss of temper on your part."

Judge Rowlands accepted that Thomas' "chronic mental illness unfortunately went under the radar".

He extended his sympathies on behalf of the court to Thomas' family, and thanked them for their forbearance, in what he described as an "awful experience for them".