Warning: This article contains graphic descriptions of violence which some readers may find distressing.

The mother of a woman brutally murdered by her husband has spoken out for the first time about her heartbreak, admitting she ‘knew he would kill her’. 26-year-old Holly Bramley was murdered in March 2023 by her husband Nicholas Metson, 28, having last been seen alive in public entering her flat on 17 March.

He stabbed her at least four times at the Lincoln flat they lived in before dismembering her body and storing it in the larder of their kitchen for a week.

Metson bought a significant amount of cleaning products in an attempt to cover up the murder and paid friend Joshua Hancock, 28, £50 to help with a ‘job’, disposing of Holly’s remains in the River Witham in Bassingham.

Police went round to the flat after Holly went missing and Metson claimed she had left on 19 March with a local mental health crisis team. However, officers said the flat had a ‘strong smell of bleach and ammonia’ and found a saw on a towel, bloodstained sheets and a bloodstain on the bedroom floor.
An investigation into Metson’s phone found he had Googled ‘How to get rid of a dead body’, ‘What benefits can I get if my wife dies’ and ‘Does God forgive murder’.

On 25 March a member of the public found Holly’s remains, though initially thought they belonged to an animal until a human hand was seen among the body parts. A court was told that some parts of Holly, including parts of her heart, have never been recovered. Metson had initially denied murdering Holly but changed his plea to guilty before the trial, and last year he was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum sentence of 19 years and 316 days.

Speaking to the Mail, Holly’s mum Annette said she knew that Metson would kill her daughter.
“I knew he would kill her,” the mother said, explaining that Metson got Holly to move 50 miles away from her family without telling them.

“I told police he would murder her; I told anyone who would listen. Her family could all see it, but nobody could stop it.” She had Googled him and found he’d previously been convicted of sharing explicit photos of a previous partner, and while her daughter didn’t tell her much about the relationship she did hear some horrifying things.

Annette said that Holly had once come home saying Metson ‘killed their puppy’, having put the dog in the washing machine and then drowned it in the shower after her daughter had rescued the animal the first time.

The mum says she got her daughter to go to the RSPCA but they told Annette they couldn’t prosecute Metson because Holly had retracted her statement, several more of her pets were killed by Metson over the years.

Though Annette went to the police several times her daughter was not willing to file a complaint against Metson. At one point she showed them messages between her daughter and Metson but police said there was not enough evidence for a prosecution, and she never saw her daughter again after 2021 when they moved away.

“I was heartbroken,” Annette said. “It was as though, overnight, my daughter had disappeared. He had her completely under his control, and she always went back to him.”

If you are experiencing domestic violence, please know that you are not alone. You can talk in confidence to the national domestic violence helpline Refuge on 0808 2000 247, available 24/7, or via live chat, available 10am-10pm, Monday to Friday.