Mathew Pickering guilty of Georgina Dowey Cadoxton murder

A man has been found guilty of murdering his on/off girlfriend who was strangled and left in a bathroom with a bag over her head for almost a day.

The body of Georgina Dowey, who was described as vulnerable, was found in Mathew Pickering's house on 7 May 2023.

Pickering, 49, admitted manslaughter but a jury at Swansea Crown Court found him guilty of murder.

Pickering, of Beaconsfield Street, Cadoxton, Neath Port Talbot, will be sentenced on 5 February.

The trial was told Pickering and Ms Dowey both had alcohol and drug problems.

Prosecutor Michael Jones KC told the jury that Ms Dowey had, in previous relationships, been a victim of domestic violence.

Georgina Dowey had, in previous relationships, been a victim of domestic violence, the court heard

Her lifestyle was sometimes chaotic, he said, which made her "even more vulnerable".

The jury was shown CCTV from a nearby shop which showed Pickering leaving his house to go shopping after murdering Ms Dowey.

His defence statement said the bleach was to clean the blood-stained floor.

Pickering claimed there was an altercation between the two which ended with Ms Dowey strangled on the downstairs bathroom floor.

A post-mortem examination showed that Ms Dowey's body was found a day later with a black bag over her head and 32 separate injuries, including bruising and swelling to her face.

Ms Dowey's body was found after Pickering's father called 999, concerned for his son's mental health, but not knowing what had happened.

When Pickering was arrested, he was heard on police bodycam footage saying he was "defending" himself and Ms Dowey had been "nothing but trouble".

Following the verdict, Judge Paul Thomas KC gave his condolences to Ms Dowey's family, who were in court, commending the "dignity that you've shown through these trying proceedings".

Turning to Pickering, he warned him that he should prepare for "only one sentence, which is life imprisonment".