Lincoln man admits murdering wife and disposing of her body parts in the River Witham near Bassingham
A man faces life imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to murdering his wife and then disposing of her body parts in a Lincolnshire river.
Nicholas Metson, 28, was due to stand trial for the murder of 26-year-old Holly Bramley (latterly Metson).
Her body parts were found in the River Witham 12 miles from her Lincoln home in March last year.
Metson had previously denied Ms Bramley's murder between 17 and 25 March 2023 - but he dramatically changed his plea to guilty when he appeared at Lincoln Crown Court today (Friday) for a pre-trial hearing.
A large number of Ms Bramley's family were in the public gallery to watch Metson enter his guilty plea.
More stories like this delivered straight to your inbox every morning - sign up to The Briefing here
He had previously admitted conspiracy to pervert the course of justice by disposing of Ms Bramley's body on 25 March.
Metson, who was wearing a grey top and grey jogging bottoms, will now be sentenced on Friday, 5 April, and was remanded back into custody.
Judge Simon Hirst told Metson: "You have pleaded guilty to one of the most serious offences there are.
"I will sentence you on 5 April. You will receive a sentence of life imprisonment. What needs to be decided is the minimum tariff you will have to serve before you are eligible to go before the parole board."
Gordon Aspden KC, prosecuting, asked for the case to be adjourned for the defence to submit a short medical report on behalf of Metson and for the prosecution and defence to provide sentencing notes to the court.
"We anticipate a case of this gravity will need half a day," Mr Aspden told the court.
Allison Summers KC, defending Metson, asked for a short adjournment for the preparation of a report by an autism specialist on her client.
Officers were alerted to a concern for Ms Bramley’s welfare after reports of an incident at the Shuttleworth House high-rise flats in Lincoln where Metson lived.
Police launched a investigation into Ms Bramley's murder after divers recovered her body from a river in the village of Bassingham, 12 miles south of Lincoln.
Officers were later seen searching a garage and bin storage area at the Shuttleworth House high rise flats in Lincoln where Ms Bramley lived with Metson.
People in the Bassingham area were asked to review dashcam, doorbell cameras and CCTV footage from 12pm on Friday March 24 to 4pm on Sunday March 25 “in case they captured anything significant”.
Ms Bramley and Metson are believed to have met at Boston College in Lincolnshire in 2016 and married in 2021.
In August 2022, the couple were interviewed by their local paper about the closure of Lincoln's central market.
They told how they used to visit the market on a weekly basis to order food and speak to the stallholders.
Metson said: 'It's quite heartbreaking to see it go because it connected quite a lot of people together. It's a part of Lincoln that you aren't going to get back.'
Ms Bramley added: 'The atmosphere is never going to be the same.'
