‘My daughter was murdered and cut into pieces – I’m haunted by her terrible last moments’
It’s been three years since the brutal murder of Holly Bramley and her mum Annette cannot stop thinking about how she died.
Holly, 26, was stabbed four times by Nicholas Metson, who she had been in a relationship with for eight years.
He then cut her body into 224 parts and dumped them in the River Witham near Lincoln.
‘I think about the actual moment a lot,’ Annette says. ‘At the time, I told the police to tell me everything as I needed answers. I said it can’t be worse than what is pictured in my head – they said it was.
‘I was sitting down and then they told me how many parts they had found in the river. As a family we sat there and said how many parts can a body be chopped into?’
Annette is haunted by her beloved child’s murder. ‘I can see her standing there in the bedroom with her coat on and I think of the moment it must have happened,’ she says.
‘I feel the same every year. It will be a solemn day for me. I try to picture the scene. It is macabre.
‘When we found out about Holly I had dreams time after time. They went on for quite a while. It doesn’t matter how many times, I always picture the moment it must have happened.’
Metson was sentenced to a minimum of 19 years behind bars for Holly’s murder.
The exact events of March 17, 2023, are not known but the trial judge said it was clear Holly had been stabbed multiple times in her bedroom before being moved to the bathroom where she was dismembered.
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Her remains were then stored in the kitchen larder before being placed into shopping bags and dumped.
Metson had previous convictions for offences against former partners in 2013, 2016 and 2017. He had also harmed Holly’s pets and used them to control her before killing her.
Tuesday, the third anniversary of her death, was Holly’s Day. Annette was surrounded by friends, family and supporters who remembered her daughter and continue to petition for Holly’s Law.
Currently at 54,674 signatures, the aim is to create a nationwide register naming perpetrators of animal cruelty – often a precursor to domestic abuse and homicide. It has now been raised in Parliament.
You can sign the petition here.