Mother murdered after going to school, hearing in court

A 30-year-old mother of two was found dead in her home after a “sustained attack” after returning from school, a court heard.

Sophie Evans’ body was found at the property in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire on 5 July 2024.

Richard Jones, 50, of Barry Port, Carmarthenshire, admitted murder with diminished responsibility but denied murder.

A jury at Swansea Crown Court heard that Dyfed-Powys Police were called to the home on Biggin Road, where they found Ms Evans lying naked on the kitchen floor, having been attacked while wearing a bathing suit.

The jury heard that Ms Evans and Mr Jones knew each other because Ms Evans was in a relationship with Mr Jones’s son.

At the opening of the prosecution case at Swansea Crown Court on Tuesday, Mike Jones Casey told the jury that Ms Evans had returned home after dropping her two children off at school when she was attacked.

It is said that Mr Jones was a “regular visitor” to the premises and carried out “unusual acts” at the premises.

The court heard how, on July 5, 2024, Mr Jones arrived at the home and Ms Evans let him in because they agreed he would come to “fix the drains”.

Det Con Chloe Pritchard, of Dyfed-Powys Police, played video of Mr Jones arriving at the property that morning, with footage showing him entering the property at 09:23 BST.

Phone records showed Ms Evans made several phone calls to her father shortly afterwards.

However, when Neil Evans tried to answer her call at 09:39 there was no answer and police said there was no activity on his phone.

At 10:00, CCTV captured Mr Jones running towards his car but returning to the property, leaving again a few minutes later with his hat and gloves on and heading into Llanelli to visit a bank and bakery. Showed it happened.

The jury heard that Ms Evans suffered multiple injuries including a fractured neck, blunt force trauma to the head, two black eyes and concussions, ultimately being strangled to death by “forceful and sustained pressure on the neck during this attack”.

Mr Jones Casey told the court that the defendant left her “dead, naked and face down” before driving her with baked goods to her home in Barry Port and then back to Pembury Country Park, after which she was reunited with the family. Many messages and phone calls were exchanged. Friend.

The jury witnessed an argument between Mr Jones and his ex-partner Tracey Thompson, in which he called their son, Jamie Davis, and Ms Evans a scammer thief. Following a phone conversation between Mr Jones and Ms Thompson that afternoon, the jury was also shown a message telling them “not to say a word”.

Following a 999 call to police by Ms Thompson, police arrived at the home at 17:32.

They found the face-down body of a 30-year-old man in the kitchen and Mr Jones was arrested at 20.02 that day.

The jury also heard details of Mr Jones’s mental state at the time, saying he was becoming “increasingly agitated”, claiming he was being taken advantage of financially by Ms Evans and her son, Mr Davis.

Mr Jones kept his head down during his testimony.

Ms Evans’ family, who were in court, earlier issued a statement saying they were “saddened by her loss” and that “we will all miss her dearly”.

The trial, which is expected to last two weeks, will resume on Wednesday.