Builder found guilty of triple family deaths
A builder was today found guilty of bludgeoning three generations of one family to death with an iron bar.
David Morris was convicted by a jury at Swansea Crown Court of murdering Mandy Power, 34, her daughters Katie, 10, and Emily, eight, and Mrs Power’s bedridden mother Doris Dawson, 80, in June 1999.
The five women and six men returned a guilty verdict on 40-year-old Morris, of Craig-cefn-parc, in the Swansea Valley, after deliberating for 12 hours following the 11-week trial.
Morris battered lesbian Mandy Power to death in her home in Clydach, near Swansea, south Wales, after she spurned his sexual advances.
He then carried out a frenzied attack on her young children and invalid mother, who were also in the house at the time.
Mr Justice Butterfield gave Morris four life sentences.
The defendant stood stony faced as the verdicts were delivered but cries of jubilation from the Dawson family were matched by shouts of anger from Morris’ family in the public gallery.
Several members of his family, including his mother Shirley and father Brian, held their faces in their hands as shouts of "bastard" were heard around the court.
Mr Justice Butterfield said to Morris after the verdict: "These were horrific murders committed with great savagery on four defenceless victims.
"You have shown not a trace of compassion or sympathy for the terrible injuries you inflicted."
Justice Butterfield looked directly at Morris and said: ``I am sentencing you to four counts of life, one for each charge. Now take him down.''
The judge also thanked the jury for the 11 weeks of conscientious attention they had given to the facts of the case.
He said it had been "a deeply harrowing experience" for them and that he would excuse them from jury service for the rest of their lives.
The judge also spoke directly to the family of Mandy Power who were in court throughout the 11 week trial.
He said it was clear from seeing them that they were a "close knit family that had greatly suffered as a result of the tragedy".
He added: "There are no words of mine that could give you any comfort but it is hoped that the conclusion of this trial will help in some way."
Mandy Powers’ lesbian lover, Alison Lewis, was jeered by Morris’s friends as she read a statement on the court steps.
Shaking and on the verge of tears, Mrs Lewis said: "I am pleased with the verdict today. Justice has finally been achieved.
"Whilst standing trial for murder the judicial system has afforded David Morris the luxury of being innocent until proven guilty.
"Throughout the trial my rights as an innocent person were neither given nor respected as David Morris’s defence team did their utmost to make me look guilty by implication and insinuation.
"I have felt the loss of Mandy, Katie and Emily and Doris more than anyone will ever know.
"However, I have never lost sight of the pain Mandy’s family have and still are suffering, and I wish them to move forward in an attempt to rebuild their lives.
"My family and I now have to work at rebuilding ours."
