Rebbecca Spry
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Rebbecca Spry (1986 - 27 December 2005), was a travel agent from Pontypridd, Mid-Glamorgan. She was found dead at her family home in Glyncoch, near Pontypridd early on the 27 December 2005.
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[edit] Background on Jordan Rees
Jordan Lewis Rees (born 1982), from Hawthorn, Pontypridd is a Welsh amateur Rugby player, who currently plays senior rugby for Caerphilly RFC. He is their top try scorer for 2006/7 with nine scored. He previously played for Rhydyfelin RFC up until the 2004/2005 season.
[edit] Previous History of Violence
In 2000, Jordan Rees was charged with Actual Bodily Harm against a previous girlfriend when he tried to bite her nose from her face after an argument.
[edit] Night of 27/28 December, 2005
Spry had spent Boxing Day night at the local rugby club celebrating with boyfriend Rees, family and friends. The couple left early that evening and went to Spry's mothers house. In the early hours of the morning of the 28 December, Rees called Spry's sister Amie and said: "Can you come to your house please? I don't know what's wrong with your sister. She's blue." When Amie arrived at the house, Rees dialled 999 for the Emergency Services.
Rees told attending ambulance staff and later police that he had put his girlfriend to bed and then gone downstairs to watch television. He told them part way through the night he heard a loud thud and when he went to bed later he found her with her face blue.
Rebbecca's family paid tribute by saying: "She was very caring and loving and everybody who ever met her did not have a bad word to say about her"
[edit] The Trial
Rees was arrested, and appeared in Pontypridd Magistrates Court on New Years Eve, speaking only to confirm his name, address, date of birth and his understanding of the murder charge. He appeared in Merthyr Tydfill Crown Court on 6 January 2006, charged with murder of Rebecca Spry. He was then due to appear in Cardiff Crown Court on the 11 September 2006 on a charge of manslaughter.
On 4 October the trail commenced at Cardiff Crown Court. After initial filings of forensic evidence which showed Spry had died of strangulation, Rees changed his not guilty plea to guilty of Manslaughter, pleading self defence. Rees told the court that he and Spry had continued arguing after their return from the club to her mothers home, and that Spry had accused him of sleeping with her sister Amie. Rees claimed that Spry came at him with her fists up, and that in self defence Rees grabbed Spry around her neck with one hand, and then felt Spry's body go limp: "Then she went quiet and I just pushed her with my hand and she fell back and hit her head on the cabinet next to the bed." [1] Rees, a trained first aider, said Spry was unconscious and he tried to revive her. He then telephoned her sister, and it was not until she arrived with her boyfriend that he called an ambulance.
Nicholas Cooke, the prosecuting Lawyer said: "The emergency operator was struck by the calmness of the caller - he expressed himself unusually. When he was told it would take a while he said: 'Don't worry, I know you're busy'."
It emerged in the court that Spry had had a casual conversation with an old boyfriend at the club that evening, and may have ended the conversation with a peck on the cheek. Spry and Rees had also argued over a mobile phone, and there was an attempted joke by a third party that alleged Spry had touched his leg while Rees was on the phone.
Asked by defence lawyer Gerard Elias, if he admitted his unlawful actions had caused Spry's death, Rees replied: "I didn't mean it, but I did - yes." Asked how he felt about causing his girlfriend's death, Rees said: "I can't describe how I feel. Ashamed of myself and I'm sorry, really and truly sorry." Rees also admitted he had initially lied to police and ambulance crews, telling them Spry had fallen and banged her head, because "I was scared, I was ashamed as well."
Nicholas Cooke, prosecuting, asked Mr Rees: "Did you hold her by the neck until her body went limp?" Rees replied: "I did."
Cooke said in summary: "The prosecution case is this was murder and nothing less. When he applied pressure to her neck he intended to kill her and it was murder."
On 17 October 2006 Rees was found guilty of murder. Mr Justice Nigel Davis adjourned sentencing for two weeks to allow the preparation of a pre-sentence report, warning Rees he would receive a mandatory life sentence and the report would help determine his minimum tariff.
