Lewis Haines, an oil refinery worker, punched and strangled Lily Sullivan before pushing her into the water in Pembroke, south-west Wales, hours after meeting her in a nightclub. Haynes admitted to murdering Sullivan but denied it was a sexually motivated attack, although his victim’s body was stripped from the waist up and her hood was found on the lake shore. The judge said Lewis Haynes killed the teenager because he “couldn’t risk her survival”. Photo: Rex/Shutterstock But after an inquest hearing at Swansea Crown Court, Judge Thomas said he was certain Haines tried to force himself on Sullivan and, when she resisted, killed her to make sure she couldn’t tell anyone, including long-term of the partner. Haynes will be sentenced to life in prison on Friday, when his minimum term will be set. The pair first met at Out nightclub in Pembroke on the night of December 16 last year. In the early hours of the next morning they left the club and Haynes shepherded Sullivan down an unlit, secluded lane leading to the mill. A friend of Sullivan’s yelled at Haynes, “What are you doing? You have a girlfriend…and she’s only 18.” The judge said the couple kissed and hugged, but Haynes wanted them to have sex. He said: “I’m sure Lily decided she was going home. Fueled by booze, I’m sure Mr. Haines was disappointed by this. He became dynamic. she resisted. I’m sure Lily didn’t voluntarily remove her own top. I’m sure Mr. Haynes took it off her before he put her in the lake. “My firm opinion is that when Lily forced him she said she would complain that he had tried to force himself on her.” The judge said Haynes knew people, including his partner, would be angry and killed the teenager because he “couldn’t risk her life”. Sullivan’s mother, Anna Sullivan, was talking to her daughter on the phone when the attack began and the line went dead, the court heard. About that time someone living nearby heard a woman screaming. Anna Sullivan tried to call 30 times, but there was no answer. Grainy CCTV footage from the alley showed Sullivan’s phone flashing repeatedly as her mother tried to contact her. Anna Sullivan began searching for her daughter and saw the killer walking away from the scene, not knowing what had happened. Haines returned to his home in the village of Lamphey and told his partner: “I choked someone. They are in the mill.” Haynes later told his mother, “I’m sorry mom, I strangled a girl and she’s in the lake.” His stepfather called the police and Sullivan’s body was found face down in the water. The teenager’s bag was found in the lake with a large mass of hair in the zipper and her blood was found in the alley. In his defense, Haynes admitted strangling Sullivan but said he tried to pull her out of the lake. However, the judge said he made no “real effort” to do so, pointing out that he had not called for help.
