Chip shop owner ‘murdered wife by pouring scalding hot fat over her’, court hears

A husband is accused of murdering his wife of 30 years by pouring scalding hot fat over her at their chip shop.

Geoffrey Bran, 71, killed Mavis Bran, 69, at the Chipoteria in Hermon, Carmarthenshire after arguments about money, Swansea Crown Court heard.

Mrs Bran suffered severe cooking oil burns to her body after her husband pushed or threw one of three deep fat fryers, the court was told.

She died in hospital six days after suffering the burns in October last year.

Paul Lewis QC, prosecuting, said: “It is the prosecution case in a nutshell that the terrible burns Mrs Bran suffered were not the result of an accident, but were caused by her husband deliberately pushing or throwing over her a deep fat fryer which contained scalding oil.”

The couple, who had no children together, owned a small number of commercial proprieties and businesses around South Wales.

They opened the Chipoteria in January 2018 in a cabin situated next to their home in the small west Wales village.

The financial pressures of their various businesses would sometimes put a strain on their marriage leading to rows about money, the court heard.

Mr Lewis said a friend of Mrs Bran had noticed their relationship had been “deteriorating” in the months leading up to her death.

Mrs Bran would phone the friend in tears saying “he’s getting nasty”, the court heard.

Gareth Davies, another friend who lived with the couple, said that on the afternoon of 23 October last year Mrs Bran returned home naked from the waist up shouting “I’ve been burned” and “I’ve had boiling hot fat all over me”.

He described her upper body as “crimson” and that her skin was peeling off her wrists.

Despite her injuries Mrs Bran told Mr Davies to fetch more fish for customers and declined an ambulance.

Bran, who was sporting a cut above his eye, told Mr Davies his wife had been cooking fish when she slipped and grabbed the fryer, causing it to come out of the holder and spill over her.

But Mrs Bran’s friend, Caroline Morgan, said she received a call from her around 1.15pm in which Mrs Bran screamed: “Geoff has thrown boiling oil over me. Please get here, I need you now, help.”

Ms Morgan said she found Mrs Bran “shocked” and “shaking” and told Mr Davies to call for an ambulance, before telling Bran, who was still serving customers, to shut the chip shop.

Bran, from Hermon, denies murder.

The trial continues.

(c) Sky News 2019: Chip shop owner ‘murdered wife by pouring scalding hot fat over her’, court hears