The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
An “evil monster” used a ‘Bag For Life’ to dump some of his murdered wife’s remains after dismembering her body and hiding it in their flat for a week.
Nicholas Metson, 28, faces a life sentence after he admitted the brutal stabbing of his long term partner Holly Bramley, 26.
Police launched a murder investigation after dozens of remains belonging to Ms Bramley were found in the River Witham – 10 miles from her 14th floor Lincoln flat – in March last year.
Metson had recruited school friend, Joshua Hancock, also 28, to help dispose of Ms Bramley’s body parts after repeatedly stabbing and then disemembering her, Lincoln Crown Court heard.
The couple had married in 2021 after beginning their relationship in October 2016 but were on the verge of separating when Metson carried out the murder.
Gordon Aspden KC, prosecuting, said: “Mr Metson murdererd his wife, Holly, at their flat in Shuttleworth House, Lincoln.
“Afterwards he dismembered her body and he concealed it at the flat for a few days before he and Mr Hancock arranged to move the body to the village of Bassingham, some ten miles south west of Lincoln.”
Mr Aspden said police received a call expressing concern for Ms Bramley’s safety on 24 March. Metson failed to the answer the door when officers twice knocked on his door the next morning.
When Metson finally answered the door to two officers during a third visit at 11am he claimed to have been the victim of a domestic assault from Ms Bramley the previous weekend – showing the officers a bite mark.
Mr Aspden said there were bloodstained sheets in the bath and a saw on the kitchen floor. The flat also smelt strongly of bleach.
“Mr Metson claimed he had no idea where Holly now was,” Mr Aspden added.
Metson told the officers his wife had left with two women from a local mental health support group on May 19, only returning briefly to get some property the next day.
The two officers left Metson’s flat but returned at 1.15pm the same day.
Checks with the local mental health support group showed Metson had told the officers “a pack of lies,” Mr Aspden told the court.
Police carried out a search of the flat. The saw had now been moved into a cupboard. “There was no sign of Holly,” Mr Aspden said. “At one point Mr Metson joked she might be hiding under the bed.”
Metson also gave different accounts to other witnesses – on one occasion claiming Holly had moved to Manchester with some drugs users.
Metson was arrested on suspicion of murder but gave a no comment interview to the police.
At 6pm on May 25 a member of the public noticed a number of plastic bags and a ‘Bag For Life’ floating in the River Witham at Bassingham, and examined one of the bags.
“At this point he made a grim discovery,” Mr Aspden told the court.
“At first he could not believe what he had seen,” Mr Aspden added. “He was looking at a severed hand.”
Police divers recovered 224 remains of Ms Bramley’s body from the bags but parts of her heart, lungs and fingers were still missing.
Her head was recovered with evidence it had been shaved and it took a Home Office Pathologist over 13 hours to examine all her remains.
Such was the dismemberment the pathologist was unable to establish an exact cause of death but four wounds consistent with a sharp incision were found on her body.
The pathologist concluded Ms Bramley’s injuries were consistent with dismemberment and the use of a sharp edged tool.
Police later recovered a set of garden pruners, two knives and a claw hammer from Metson’s flat.
Mr Aspden said Miss Bramley injuries went far beyond what was necessary to dismember her body.
“In short after murdering Holly he destroyed her,” Mr Aspden added.
Following the killing Metson withdrew £50 from Ms Bramley’s bank account and also made a number of significant internet searches.
These included “What benefits do I get if my wife has died” and “Can someone haunt me after they die.”
CCTV from Shuttleworth House showed Ms Bramley was last seen alive at 7.17pm on Friday March `17 when she was filmed returning to her flat.
Mr Aspden said a week later at 12.40am on March 25 other CCTV footage showed Metson using the flat’s lift to move bags from the 14th floor to the ground floor.
“They were carried by hand and also using a Morrisons shopping trolley, and then conveyed to his yellow Peugeot car,” Mr Aspden said.
“The most likely scenario is that Mr Metson murderd Holly in the bedroom, dismembered her body in the bath, and then stored her body in the kitchen larder, before bagging her remains up.”
Evidence from Metson’s mobile phone showed he had offered Hancock money for a job during the early hours of March 25.
The next day a message on Hancock’s phone stated “just got £50 for disposing of a body.”
Ms Bramley, who was a triplet and one of 13 siblings, grew up in the Lincolnshire town of Holbeach, attending William Stukeley Primary School and George Farmer Secondary.
Her mother, Annette Bramley, who still lives in Holbeach, read out a moving victim impact statement in court, describing Metson as an “evil monster.”
She then addressed Metson directly, telling him he had sentenced Holly’s family “to a life sentence of grief.”
Metson showed no reaction as Mrs Bramley turned to him and expressed her wish that he receive a whole life sentence.
“The heinous way in which she was murdered and dismembered has left us in such unimaginable pain,” Mrs Bramley told the court.
Mrs Bramley said Metson’s controlling and coercive behaviour had also left the family unable to see Holly in the years before her death.
She’s now training to help others see the signs of domestic abuse.
Metson had previously denied Ms Bramley’s murder between March 16 and 23, 2023 – but he dramatically entered a guilty plea last month.
A large number of Ms Bramley’s family were in the public gallery to watch Metson receive the minimum term he must serve in jail before he can ever be considered for release by the parole board.
He had previously admitted conspiracy to pervert the course of justice by disposing of Ms Bramley’s body on March 25.
Hancock, also 28, of Walnut Close, Waddington, pleaded guilty to obstructing the Lincolnshire Coroner in the execution of his duty by helping to dispose of Ms Bramley’s body.
The court heard Metson received a referral order in 2013 for a domestic assault on a previous partner.
In 2016 Metson was also given a community order for three offences of disclosing sexual images relating to another previous partner.
A year later Metson admitted breaching a restraining order relating to the same victim.
There was also evidence of Metson being cruel to animals, the court heard.
Mr Aspden argued there was a clear intention from Metson to kill Ms Bramley
“She was stabbed repeatedly,” Mr Aspden. “She was restrained in a headlock and it is likely she bit Mr Metson in self defence.”
The court heard Metson had given an “unreliable and implausible” account of the murder to a psychiatrist which has not been disclosed in court.
Allison Summers KC, defending Metson, had requested a short adjournment for the preparation of a report by an autism specialist on Metson.
Miss Summers argued Metson’s diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder was a factor in the murder and said there was no evidence of planning or an intention to kill.
“Something caused this young man to take this extreme course of action,” Miss Summer submitted.
“Of course we accept the lack of detail over Holly’s last moments is an aggravating feature in this case.”
Judge Simon Hirst acknowledged the lack of an account from Metson would also be extremely frustrating for Ms Bramley’s family and friends.
“They will never be told how and why Holly died,” Judge Hirst.
