Holly Bramley death: Husband admits murder and dumping body

Holly Bramley (latterly Metson) was found dead in Bassingham, near Lincoln, in March 2023

A man has admitted murdering his wife and then dumping her body parts in a Lincolnshire river.

The remains of Holly Bramley, 26, were found in the River Witham, near Lincoln, in March 2023.

Nicholas Metson, 28, originally denied her murder, which took place between 17 and 25 March 2023, and was due to stand trial but pleaded guilty when he appeared at Lincoln Crown Court.

Another man, Joshua Hancock, admitted a charge of obstructing a coroner.

Metson, of Shuttleworth House, Lincoln, previously admitted conspiracy to pervert the course of justice by disposing of Ms Bramley's body on 25 March last year.

Both men are due to be sentenced on 5 April and were remanded in custody.

Nicholas Metson previously denied murdering Holly Bramley, whom he lived with at the Shuttleworth House high-rise flats in Lincoln

During the pre-trial review hearing on Friday, Judge Simon Hirst told Metson he would be facing a life sentence.

"What needs to be decided is the minimum tariff you will have to serve before you are eligible to go before the parole board," he said.

In a separate hearing on Friday, Hancock, of Walnut Close, Waddington, pleaded guilty to preventing the Coroner of Lincolnshire from holding an inquest into Ms Bramley's death by helping to dispose of her remains in the River Witham.

The judge told the defendant he would be facing a custodial sentence.

Police were alerted to a concern for Ms Bramley's welfare after reports of an incident at the Shuttleworth House high-rise flats in Lincoln where Ms Bramley lived with Metson.

The body of Holly Bramley, latterly known as Metson, was later recovered from the river in the village of Bassingham, 12 miles from her home.

The couple are believed to have met at Boston College in Lincolnshire in 2016 and married in 2021.