Man who beat partner to death jailed for 20 years
Buddug Jones was found with "massive" head injuries at her home on Anglesey in April
- Published
A man who battered his long-term partner to death as she lay in bed must serve at least 20 years for her murder.
Colin Milburn, 52, was jailed after a jury found him guilty of beating Buddug Jones with a heavy weapon at her home on Anglesey in April last year.
The 48-year-old mother and grandmother suffered massive head injuries.
The couple had four sons, and the eldest said at the sentencing hearing at Caernarfon Crown Court that the murder of their mother was a "nightmare".
Colin Milburn, 52, was jailed after a jury found him guilty of beating Buddug Jones with a heavy weapon
A jury convicted Milburn of murder in November after a three-week trial.
Milburn had insisted he was not responsible for the attack in the village of Rhydwyn near Holyhead.
The court had heard Milburn had become convinced Ms Jones was having an affair.
Colin Milburn denies murdering Buddug Jones at Rhydwyn on Anglesey
She denied seeing anyone else, and the obsession led to Milburn being thrown out of the family home two weeks before she was killed.
Milburn’s trial heard he went back to their home just after 07:00 BST on 22 April when he knew only Ms Jones would be at home.
He claimed he had visited to get laundry done. However the jury accepted the prosecution’s account.
They found Milburn went into Ms Jones’ bedroom and hit her with either a hammer or heavy spanner, inflicting fatal head injuries.
Neighbours called police to the scene at Rhydwyn on Anglesey on 22 April
Milburn left, and then returned a few hours later to tell neighbours Ms Jones had been attacked and killed.
But he was arrested and charged after CCTV footage showed him arriving in the village earlier on the day she was killed.
The court heard impact statements from their four sons.
The couple’s eldest son John said his life "had been changed".
"One of the things I am most angry is he has taken my children’s nain (grandmother) from them.
"Mam was the one who kept the family together, she was the backbone of the family."
Cowardly brutal attack
In another impact statement, their second son Daniel Milburn said his father had "lost the right to be called my dad".
Sentencing him to a life sentence, Judge Rhys Rowlands said Milburn had carried out a "savage and quite merciless attack".
He said Milburn had gone to her home at Maes Gwelfor in Rhydwyn with "murderous intent", and had been "fuelled by resentment and self-pity".
Judge Rowlands said he carried out an "explosive violent attack". "It was a cowardly, brutal attack," said the judge.
He described Milburn as a "pretty compulsive liar" who only shed tears about the murder in his own self-interest.
Jailing him for a minimum of 20 years in prison before he can be considered for release, judge Rowlands said Milburn was "clearly a dangerous individual who has shown no remorse".
Outside court, Det Supt Mark Pierce, who headed the investigation, paid tribute to Ms Jones' family.
He said: "They've lost their mum, their grandma, and they've also had to sit through a court process where their father, or grandfather, has been responsible for such an awful act.
"It's just difficult to imagine what they are going through.
"But the dignity they've shown, the courage, it is outstanding."
He added that Milburn will be in prison until he is at least in his 70s.
"That's where he deserves to be," he said.