Stephanie Davis’ mother Shirley Oliver, 42, was killed in one of Cardiff’s most notorious murders
“It’s just madness. They can do all that, come out and have a better life than people who are struggling and working for years. He has been allowed to change his name, I don’t understand how he was able to do that.”
These are the words of a woman who has lived for the last 21 years without the person she calls her best friend, her mother Shirley Oliver.
In that time, the two brothers who killed Shirley and left her body dumped in a Cardiff alleyway in 2005 have served life sentences and been freed from prison. One, Christopher Jones, was 21 when he was jailed for murder and was still younger than 42-year-old Shirley when he was released from his jail sentence.
Shirley’s daughter Stephanie Davies was also 21 when her mum died. She and her family were distraught and angry when the killers Christopher and Stuart Jones were released from prison.
She has since been a helpless bystander as the younger brother Christopher changed his name and has repeatedly been in and out of the courts since he was released. He was jailed again last week after being caught with substantial amounts of cannabis, ketamine and hundreds of pounds in cash.
Stephanie said it was wrong how he had been allowed to live a better life than people who lived honestly and worked hard.
She said: “The whole time since they got sentenced I fought to keep them inside, not out. The one brother Stuart, I haven’t heard his name since he’s been caught.
“It’s just madness, they can do all that, come out and have a better life than people who are struggling and working for years. (Christopher) has been allowed to change his name, I don’t understand how he was able to do that.
“I never got over it, when it’s there we were horrified and it set us all back. My phone, my door, my messages, that’s the only way we found out.”
Christopher has since changed his name to Christopher Mason-Jones, and has been living in Russell Street, Swansea.
Stephanie said Mason-Jones, who laughed after being sentenced for murder, has shown no remorse for her mother’s murder and she was scared for her family’s safety.
She added: “He’s institutionalised now, his life is prison so coming out he can do what he wants because he doesn’t care if he goes back inside.
“And then who’s to say again when they let him out next he doesn’t do something like that again.
“There’s no closure either, I worry every time I see someone who looks like him and I worry about what I’d do if I came face to face with him. When he’s inside it’s no comfort because he’ll be released before you know it.”
Her mother was beaten, strangled, and stamped on by brothers Christopher and Stuart Jones, then 31, before they dumped her body in a Cardiff alley in 2005. She was killed amid an argument over a garage bill she said she had paid after accepting a lift home from the two men.
A sentencing at Cardiff Crown Court heard Shirley was removed from the vehicle by Christopher and dropped on the floor. He then stamped on her. She was then strangled, beaten and left for dead. The murder was described by a judge as a callous and cold-blooded killing …of a woman who did you no wrong”. Don’t miss a court report by signing up to our crime newsletter here.
Both Christopher, then 21, and Stuart, then 31, were sentenced to life imprisonment. But Christopher, now 42, was given parole in 2018 and released on life-long licence against the wishes of Shirley’s family.
This week he found himself back before the courts this week and was sentenced to 22 months imprisonment for being concerned in the supply of cannabis, being concerned in the supply of ketamine, possession of cocaine with intent to supply, possession of ketamine with intent to supply, and possession of criminal property.
Speaking about the news of Mason-Jones returning to prison, Stephanie said she had been inundated with friends and acquaintances messaging her.
She said: “It just starts all over again, people stop me and ask questions… I’m grateful people care so much but it’s over and over and over. (The killers) get to move on and live their lives. We’re the ones with a life sentence, not them.”
Stephanie still thinks about her mother all the time and described her as the “kindest person”. She added: “She would give anyone her last. She was like my mum and my best friend.”
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