Footage has been released of the moment a man laughed and pretended to cry upon being arrested on suspicion of murdering his own mother. He was also caught on CCTV buying a bottle of Stella while his mother lay dead in her home.
“Caring, loving and kind” grandmother Kelly Pitt was brutally murdered by her own son Lewis Bush who left her for dead in her own home for two days before she was discovered. He callously attempted to clean the scene before leaving the house to withdraw cash and buy a bottle of Stella Artois while her “black and blue” body lay on her bed.
Bush, 27, assaulted and bullied Ms Pitt, 44, for years before he murdered her at her home in Newport on May 10. She sustained horrendous injuries with lacerations to her face which was purple and swollen when she was discovered. The bedding and mattress was soaked with her own blood.
Having killed his mother, Bush lied to his sister Jordan about his mother’s condition and fled the scene after Jordan’s partner Kieron Saunders attended her flat in Sandalwood Court on the morning of May 12. He later attended a police station, and upon being arrested on suspicion of murdering Ms Pitt he said: “Murder, murder? You must be joking,” and “what, my mum is dead serious?”
He later pleaded guilty to his mother’s murder after initially denying being responsible. The defendant was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 16 years, at Newport Crown Court on November 10 in a highly emotional charged hearing which saw family members approaching the dock and calling Bush a “murdering scumbag c***”.
A selection of video evidence was played during the sentencing hearing, the first of which showed Ms Pitt walking to a shop with a crutch before walking back to her home. She later attended a petrol station on foot before retuning to her home in Sandalwood Court. It was the last time she was seen alive.
ust after 11am on May 12, he and a friend attended Newport Central police station and he was arrested on suspicion of murder. Upon being placed in handcuffs, Bush said: “What, you’re joking me. Murder? You’re joking me bruv.” He then began chuckling as he was taken into the police station. Bush was asked by an officer if he had “taking anything”, to which he replied: “No.”
The killer added: “I wouldn’t have come here if I knew all of this.” He said: “Murder? (chuckles) I haven’t been arrested for something like this in all my career.” Speaking to officer, he said: “You won’t harm me will you? It feels like you’re all going to fill me in.”
Bush, who is sitting down, places his head between his legs and pretends to start crying. He said: “It f****** weren’t me.” He is then taken to a police van before he is taken to Ystrad Mynach custody suite. He added: “Is she really gone year? Oh no.” He continues to whimper as he is led to the van.
Reading a victim impact statement, Jordan Bush said her mother was ‘caring, loving, funny and bubbly’ and described her as a ‘warm welcoming lady who made sure everyone was well looked after’.
She said she did not call the police when asked because she thought things would be sorted by the next day, as they had been previously.
‘I have to live with that guilt every day,’ she said.
Addressing her brother in the dock, she added: ‘Our mother will never get to see her granddaughter grow up because of what you did.
‘I am now alone without a mum, sister or brother because you are no brother of mine.’
Bush, of Newport, was jailed for life with a minimum of 16 years at Newport Crown Court. He changed his plea to guilty just weeks before the trial was due to start.
Judge Daniel Williams said: ‘Over the years, the court has heard, you subjected your poor mother to a great deal of violence.
‘You bullied her and others in your family. You were on bail for having assaulted your mother when you murdered her.
‘That Kelly’s life should end as it did is a wrong that no sentence will right.’
After the case, detective chief inspector Virginia Davies, the senior investigation officer in the case, said: ‘The family of Kelly Pitt are left devastated by the loss of their beloved mother, grandmother and sister at the hands of her son.
‘I want to reassure anyone coming forward to report domestic abuse or violence against women and girls that there is a wide range of support services available, and we urge you to come forward.’
