Stepdad's sentence increased for stabbing sleeping stepson to death (Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, United Kingdom)

Stepdad CARL WAYNE BOWEN was pretty much of the higher order of abuser/control freaks. He ran his family--which included his stepkids and his biological kids--with the proverbial iron fist. But there was dissent in the ranks as the kids got older. Well, good old Stepdad put an end to the insurrection by beating his 15-year-old stepson to death while he was still in bed asleep. The mom and a daughter were also attacked.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/south_west/8406217.stm

Page last updated at 14:19 GMT, Thursday, 10 December 2009

Stepfather sentence increased for 'remorseless killing'

A 42-year-old man who was jailed for at least 16 years for stabbing his sleeping stepson to death has had his minimum jail term increased.

Carl Wayne Bowen, 43, of Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, was found guilty in July of murdering Jamie Yeates, 15.

He was also convicted of the attempted murder of his wife Maria and wounding Jamie's sister Kimberly with intent.

Lord Chief Justice, Lord Judge, ruled in the court of appeal that Bowen must now serve a minimum of 25 years.

He said the term handed to Bowen was "unduly lenient" and had to be increased.

"Standing back, there is no doubt that this was a remorseless killing carried out deliberately to kill a defenceless boy - not in this particular case much more than a lad - as he lay asleep," he said.

The court heard Bowen had been a controlling, manipulative and pathologically jealous man who had created a house "filled with fear" for his wife, her two children and their own seven boys.

He did not allow his wife to socialise without him, frequently wrongly accused her of having affairs and regularly checked the fuel gauge of her car to make sure she did not make journeys without his consent.

He also refused to allow Jamie, an aspiring jockey, and his older sister to see their biological father or their paternal grandparents and grew jealous when they did.

But, in the period before the attack, Bowen's control over his stepchildren was beginning to wane and he found this "distasteful and unacceptable", Lord Judge told the court.

Two days before the attacks, Bowen told his wife that if she ever left him, he would murder her and claim "diminished responsibility".

In the early hours of 8 January, he took a 12-inch kitchen knife and a wooden table leg, went to the room where Jamie was sleeping and stabbed him 18 times.

The blows were of such force that they punctured his lung, damaged ribs and severed his spine, causing the boy to scream out for help.

Both mother and sister woke up and went to see what was happening, but were themselves attacked.

Aggravating features

He then left the house but was arrested half-a-mile away, still covered in his stepson's blood.

At his trial, he claimed diminished responsibility, but this claim was rejected and the jury found him guilty of murder.

The case was back in court again after the attorney general referred the sentence to Lord Judge, arguing that it was "unduly lenient".

The 16-year term did not adequately reflect the seriously aggravating features of the case, the court heard.

These included the boy's age, vulnerability as a sleeping person, the brutal and pre-meditated violence, the family background and the subsequent attacks.

Bowen, who was not present at the hearing, will only be released after serving the minimum term of 25 years if he can convince the parole board he is no longer a danger to the public.