Heir to £230 million pie fortune charged with murder of best friend

A man charged with murdering his best friend in Cardiff is the heir to a £230 million pie company fortune, it has emerged.

Dylan Thomas, 23, is accused of fatally stabbing William Bush, also 23, who was found dead in a car park next to Llandaff Cathedral on Christmas Eve.

Thomas is the grandson of Sir Gilbert Stanley Thomas, a Welsh business tycoon whose empire included Peter’s Pies, described as one of the country’s “most iconic products”.

He appeared at Cardiff magistrates’ court on December 28 and is expected in the city’s crown court on February 2.

Mr Thomas, a computer programmer, is reported to have been best friends with Bush. Both attended the same private school in Cardiff.

According to The Sun, the friends shared a terraced house owned by Mr Thomas’s grandparents and the Welsh rugby legend Sir Gareth Edwards.

Bush is understood to have been a keen sportsman who worked as a surveyor with a local commercial property firm.

In a statement released through South Wales Police following his death, his family said: “This week our beloved Will was taken away from us in such a cruel and indescribable way.

“Will was such a loyal, funny and caring son, brother and boyfriend. We are absolutely devastated and as a family request that our privacy is respected at this difficult time.”

Sir Stanley founded a catering venture in the 1970s which became known as Peter’s Food Services when it sold for £95 million in 1988.

His company was famed for supplying baked staples including pies, pasties, sausage rolls and slices into retail, catering and hospitality outlets across the UK.

In 2013, Sir Stanley was reported to have an estimated net worth of £230 million with his brother Peter, according to The Sunday Times.