Killer, 31, who strangled Lily Sullivan, 18, to death and dumped her body in a lake after she refused to have sex with him is jailed for 23 years and four months
- Lewis Haines, 31, murdered 18-year-old Lily Sullivan just before Christmas 2021
- The pair met at a club in Pembroke, Wales before leaving together late at night
- Haines strangled Lily after becoming ‘frustrated’ with her then dumped her body
A man who strangled a teenager and left her in a reservoir after she refused to have sex with him has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 23 years and four months.
Lewis Haines, 31, murdered 18-year-old Lily Sullivan after he met her inside a nightclub in Pembroke, south-west Wales, just before Christmas last year.
Lily’s mother branded her killer ‘pure evil’ and said she would never forgive him for what he had done.
Lily Sullivan’s mother Anna Sullivan branded Lewis Haines ‘pure evil’ for murdering her daughter and dumping her body in a pond, and said she could never forgive him.
The pair had kissed after meeting in the Out nightspot on December 16 and later went to a nearby alleyway together where they became more intimate.
Swansea Crown Court heard Miss Sullivan was later found face down and topless in Mill Pond, a two-mile-long freshwater reservoir near the town.
After murdering the teenager, Haines walked past his victim’s mother as she waited to pick her daughter up from a nearby garage.
Lily Sullivan was killed on a night out in Pembroke, south-west Wales
Lily’s mother, Anna Sullivan, said: ‘The events of the night Lily died go over in my mind constantly and I wake up in the night picturing Lily in the water, wondering if she knew what was happening, if she was scared,’ Ms Sullivan said in a victim impact statement read to the court by William Hughes QC, prosecuting.
‘I wish I had stopped Lily going out that night.
‘I picture the male responsible for Lily’s death who I saw in the garage and wish I’d confronted him.
‘He looked me straight in the eyes, knowing what he had done.
‘Knowing I was that close to her, I wish I’d gotten out of my car and walked. I will always wonder if I could have saved her.
‘These thoughts never leave me and I can’t stop thinking about it. I have to live with the fact that I will now never know what really happened to Lily that night.
‘I suspect the actual truth will haunt me for the rest of my life.’
Father-of-one Haines admitted murdering Miss Sullivan but denied sexual misconduct.
But after a trial of facts, Judge Paul Thomas QC concluded Haines had killed the teenager after she rebuffed his sexual advances.
Judge Thomas said it was clear that after spending around an hour in an alleyway together, Haines had become ‘frustrated’ and attacked Miss Sullivan.
Her tobacco tin, mobile phone and leather jacket were later found strewn on the ground in the lane.
Haines made Miss Sullivan walk to the lake, a short distance away, and ‘forcibly’ removed her cream lace top.
Lewis Haines (pictured) confessed to his family that he had strangled Lily after fleeing the scene – but denied it was a sex attack. He has been jailed for life with a minimum of 23 years
He later claimed Miss Sullivan had threatened to accuse him of rape.
Judge Thomas said part of the defendant’s story held an ‘element based in truth’ and that he had a ‘great deal to lose’.
At the time, Haines was going through family court proceedings to have access to his child, and had a girlfriend.
‘He strangled Lily in order to prevent her telling people he had tried to get her to go further than she was willing,’ Judge Thomas said.
‘His intention was to silence her.
‘He didn’t want anyone to know what had happened in the lane.’
Sentencing, the judge said: ‘You strangled her face-to-face, she must have been terrified.
‘An 18-year-old girl all alone in the dark with a powerful man.
‘She was entirely at your mercy and you, Lewis Haines, showed her none.
‘You were entirely thinking about your own self-preservation.’
He added Lily Sullivan’s death had caused ‘devastation to many’.
Lily had spoken to her mother at 2.47am when she said: ‘I’ll be there now mam. I’m on my way. I’m a couple of minutes away. I’m nearly there.’
But the call was cut short before her mum Anna Sullivan tried calling her back 30 times as she sat waiting to pick her up in the nearby Green Garage. Her calls to Lily all went to voicemail as she waited.
Mrs Sullivan unknowingly spotted Haines ‘walking casually, swinging his arms’ at 3.09am when he started to ‘act strangely.’
Prosecutor William Hughes QC said: ‘He began to act strangely, running across the road even though there was no traffic and walking towards the Bush school. He was shaking his head and holding his head in his hands. This occurred at 3.09am.
‘The person Anna Sullivan saw at this point was her daughter’s killer.
‘Anna Sullivan decided to follow Lewis Haines due to his behaviour. She lost sight of him as he disappeared into the woods.
‘Mr Haines was aware that Anna Sullivan was waiting for Lily at that location.’
The court heard Haines fled the scene after leaving Lily’s half-naked body face down in the water on December 17 last year.
Her cream lace top was found next to the waters and her brown leather jacket and phone in the alley nearby.
He went home to tell girlfriend Maisie John: ‘I have strangled somebody. They are in the Mill Pond. I’ve been in the Mill Pond.’
The court heard scaffolder Haines then told his mum and step-dad that he met Lily in Out nightclub before they ‘necked’ during the night out.
He claimed that he launched the attack after Lily had threatened to accuse him of being a rapist when she found out he had a girlfriend – and that his young daughter would be ashamed.
Lily was pronounced dead at 6.02am before a post mortem by Dr Stephen Leadbeatter found her injuries consistent with ‘manual strangulation.’
Haines told police: ‘I strangled her’ when they arrived at his mum’s address. He later said ‘What the f*** have I done?’ at the custody desk at the station.
Swansea Crown Court heard Haines claimed he had tried to go in the water to pull Lily out – but the judge said he had put her in the pond ‘where she would not be easily seen at night in the murky water.’
After the case, Michael Cray of the CPS said: ‘Haines committed a dreadful, callous offence, murdering a young woman who had her whole adult life in front of her.
‘The shock of this tragedy will be felt in the community for some time.
‘Our thoughts are with Lily’s family and friends as they deal with the tremendous loss they undoubtedly feel.’
A victim impact statement from Lily Sullivan’s mother Anna told how Lily was her only child.
Mrs Sullivan added that her daughter had ‘so much to look forward to’. She had just started driving lessons and was going to college.
‘The man who killed Lily knew I was waiting for her and passed me by the garage’
‘The pain of Lily being taken from her family is unbearable. I am suffering many physical symptoms which are debilitating. I suffer regularly from panic attacks. When they come I cannot speak or function.
‘I constantly feel numb and in a daze.
‘The feelings I have are so difficult to describe. I am broken inside. It’s almost like I don’t know why I was put on this earth in the first place.
‘I used to be afraid of dying because I didn’t want to leave Lily, but I am waiting for my time now. I can’t wait to be with her again.
‘Until this happens it feels like my life is on pause. I am struggling to find a reason to be here.
‘I wake up in the night picturing Lily in the water and wondering what was happening, whether she was scared.
‘I picture the male responsible for Lily’s death, when I saw him in front of the garage and could have confronted him. He looked me straight in the eye.
‘I question what happened when her phone went dead when I was speaking to her and what I could have done differently so she could still be alive. It’s like being tortured, thinking that one decision could have changed the whole night.
‘Overwhelmingly I feel it’s all so senseless. It didn’t need to happen.
‘What I can’t come to terms with is that the man who killed Lily knew I was waiting for her and passed me by the garage… He chose not to help… He did nothing, which I can’t forgive.’
At this point Lewis Haines shook his head and covered his eyes with his hand.
She added: ‘I intend to move in the near future because the house is so full of memories of Lily. I miss her so much.
‘I want to know why [she was killed]. I want to grieve for my daughter. With all these questions running through my mind I can never have peace.’
Miss Sullivan’s social media contained a number of poignant posts about misogyny, sexual violence and women being killed by men.
One of her Instagram stories contained a photograph taken of floral tributes left for Sarah Everard with a sign that read: ‘She was just walking home.’
Another post several weeks later listed 80 women who had been killed by men since Miss Everard was murdered by Met Police officer Wayne Couzens.
Others included words such as ‘Men shouldn’t be making laws about women’s bodies’, ‘Maybe not all men, but all women’, and a guide on how to recognise if you have been spiked.
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