Cardiff Man Gets Life Sentence for Strangling Mother of Two

A man has been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of mum-of-two Victoria Thomas in Cardiff.

Alcwyn Thomas, 44, must serve a minimum term of 20 years after being found guilty at Cardiff Crown Court. Despite admitting to manslaughter, Thomas maintained that 45-year-old Victoria’s death was a ‘sex act gone wrong’ during ‘erotic asphyxiation’ – a claim rejected by the jury. 💔

CCTV footage from Monday, August 19, 2024, showed the couple visiting The New Inn on Caerphilly Road and Club 3000 Bingo in Gabalfa with members of Thomas’s family. Witnesses described his mood that evening as argumentative and moody after consuming 16 pints of lager and taking cocaine.

The last sighting of Victoria alive was at 9.26pm when the couple returned to their shared home on Caerphilly Road in Birchgrove. Just after 11pm, Thomas sent concerning texts to his sisters saying, “Sorry I done something so bad”.

Victoria’s body was discovered during the early hours of Tuesday, August 20, after Thomas’s niece went to check on her welfare. When police arrived, Thomas was asleep in the couple’s bedroom.

Senior Investigating Officer, Detective Chief Inspector Matt Powell, said: “Victoria Thomas was a much-loved daughter, mother, sister, aunt, and niece. Her devastated family have shown tremendous patience and dignity during this heart-breaking ordeal. Our thoughts are with them today as they have been throughout.”

“Alcwyn Thomas has shown no remorse and maintained that Victoria’s death was some kind of sex act gone wrong. He made no effort to revive her or seek help for her and having killed her he went to sleep in their bedroom. He now has to face up to the reality of what he did and spend a very long time in prison.”

In a statement, Victoria’s family said: “As a family we are very grateful that justice has been done in this case. We would like to thank everyone involved at South Wales Police who in addition to conducting a thorough and successful investigation have provided the most fantastic support to us all throughout. Thanks to Victim Support for everything they have offered the family to try and make our lives slightly easier. We would also like to thank the CPS and in particular the team involved in the preparation of the court case and Mike Jones KC for his excellent presentation of the evidence which led to the successful conviction of Vicki’s murderer. We will never get Vicki back and that is something that we will have to live with for the rest of our lives but knowing that her murderer will not live the rest of his days in freedom provides some level of comfort.” 🙏