Bicester woman sentenced to life for murder of partner
23 year old Bailey Heywood was found guilty of the murder of Dale Bond, who was 45.
Last updated 16th Sep 2024
A woman from Bicester has been sentenced to life in prison with minimum term of 17 years for the murder of her partner.
On Friday 13th September after a two week trial 23 year old Bailey Heywood was found guilty of the murder of Dale Bond, who was 45.
On Wednesday 13th March 2024 at around 12.20pm, Thames Valley Police received a phone call from a member of the public, stating that they believed that a man had been seriously injured and provided details of who had injured them.
Officers went to Mullein Road, in Bicester, where they found Dale Bond in the lounge of the flat he lived in, with stab wounds. Attending officers provided emergency treatment, paramedics from South Central Ambulance and the Air Ambulance were deployed and they provided specialist emergency medical treatment. But sadly Mr Bond was pronounced dead at the scene.
At the same time as Mr Bond was being attended to, officers deployed to an address in Bicester where Bailey Heywood, of Germander Way in the town, was arrested. She was found with her clothing covered in blood and was arrested on suspicion of murder.
An investigation was launched by the Major Crime Unit.
A Home Office post-mortem confirmed that the cause of Mr Bond’s death was a stab wound to the chest.
On March 15th, Bailey Heywood was charged with one count of murder.
At a two week trial Heywood was found guilty by a jury of 12 at Oxford Crown Court on Friday 13th September.
Today Heywood sat in the dock wearing a white jacket with blue shoulders and showed little emotion as she was sentenced to life with a minimum term of 17 years in jail by Judge Ian Pringle.
Dale's mother smiled and put her thumbs up after sentence was passed.
Although Dale was going through divorce, his wife told the court that Heywood was wearing the blood stained pyjamas she had bought him for Christmas at the time of his death. She said this “inflicts an extra layer of pain on me”.
Senior Investigating Officer Detective Chief Inspector Will Crowther of the Major Crime Unit, said: “My thoughts firstly go out to the family and friends of Mr Bond, who have lost a much loved son, father, brother, uncle, and friend.
“Dale’s life was taken at the hands of Heywood. The jury completely rejected Heywood’s account that she was acting in self-defence, and there is absolutely no evidence to suggest that Mr Bond attacked Heywood.
“The precise motives for the murder remain unclear to this day and Heywood is the only person who could tell us, but she has chosen not to, instead claiming self-defence.
“We know that Heywood went to see Mr Bond, who she was in a relationship with, and when he least expected it, she subjected him to a vicious attack stabbing him. One of the blows caused an un-survivable wound to his chest.
“Heywood left Mr Bond for dead and was arrested shortly after when we were alerted to the incident.
“I would like to pay tribute to the family of Mr Bond, who have been supportive throughout our investigation, and have acted with dignity during the court process. I hope that the conviction of Heywood will help them to move forward.”