Man, 31, strangled and dumped teenager Lily Sullivan in a pond in Wales, judge rules

A drunk clubber strangled a teenage girl and dumped her body in a pond after she rebuffed his advances for sex, a judge has ruled.

Lewis Haines, 31, murdered Lily Sullivan after he met her inside a nightclub in Pembroke, west Wales, on 16 December 2022.

The pair had kissed after meeting at the nightspot Out and later went to a nearby alleyway where they became more intimate.

Swansea Crown Court heard how the 18-year-old was found face down and topless in Mill Pond, a two-mile-long freshwater reservoir near the town.

After murdering the teenager, Haines walked past Ms Sullivan's mother as she waited to pick her daughter up from a nearby garage.

The father-of-one admitted to murdering Ms Sullivan, but denied sexual misconduct.

However, after a trial of facts, Judge Paul Thomas QC concluded Haines had killed Ms Sullivan after she rebuffed his sexual advances.

"It is clear that Lewis Haines wanted to ensure that Lily died. His intention was to silence her," the judge said.

"He didn't want anyone to know what had happened in the lane.

"I am sure, however, having been in that lane for some time with Lily and having had intimate contact with her up to a point, Lily decided that she was going home to meet her mother.

"She made it clear from the phone call if nothing else to her mother that she did not want the intimacy between her and Lewis Haines to go as far as sexual intercourse.

"Fuelled as he was by drink, I am sure that Lewis Haines was frustrated by this because he had expectations and hopes that it would go further."

Haines claimed Ms Sullivan threatened to accuse him of rape, and he didn't want his partner and family to find out.

"His account of her threatening to tell people what he had done to her does in fact have an element based in truth about it," the judge added.

"Mr Haines had a great deal to lose. Reasons such as those in my view explain why he strangled Lily in order to prevent her telling people he had tried to get her to go further than she was willing."

Haines showed "sexual interest in Lily" from the moment he met her, despite being "warned off more than once" by friends, according to William Hughes QC, prosecuting.

The court was told that Haines admitted to kissing Ms Sullivan in the alleyway, where her jacket, mobile phone and tobacco were later found.

The teenager called her mother at 2.47am, but it was cut off mid-sentence, and Mr Hughes said it was the prosecution's belief that "Lily was attacked at that point".

He added that the victim's cream-coloured lace crop top had been "forcibly" removed before she was pushed into the water.

John Hipkin QC, defending, said there was no forensic evidence of sexual contact between the pair or evidence the top had been torn from her body.

Haines claims he tried to pull Ms Sullivan out of the water, but Judge Thomas rejected this, saying he had made no attempts to save her life.

The defendant, who was wearing a white shirt and had a shaved head, held a hand to his head and looked up at the ceiling as the judge spoke.

Haines, of Flemish Court, Lamphey, will be sentenced on Friday.