Woman sentenced for murder – Bicester

Following an investigation by Thames Valley Police’s Major Crime Unit a woman has today been sentenced after she was convicted of murder.

Bailey Heywood, aged 23, of no fixed abode, was sentenced today (16/9) to life with a minimum term of 17 years and 181 days, following a hearing at Oxford Crown Court.

It’s after Heywood was convicted of one count of murder following a trial that concluded on Friday (13/9).

Heywood was convicted of the murder of 45-year-old Dale Bond from Bicester.

On Wednesday 13 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 were rapidly deployed to Mullein Road, 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. 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 was arrested. She was found with her clothing covered in blood. She was arrested on suspicion of murder.

An investigation was launched by our 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 15 March, Bailey Heywood was charged with one count of murder.

Senior Investigating Officer Detective Chief Inspector Will Crowther of the Major Crime Unit, said: “Bailey Heywood has rightly been given a life sentence for the murder of Dale Bond.

“Heywood stabbed Mr Bond and left him for dead in his flat. She has shown no remorse for what she has done and even suggested that she stabbed her victim in self-defence.

“Through our investigation we did not find any evidence to support that this was a case of self-defence, and the jury rejected this explanation and in my view rightly convicted Heywood of murder.

“We may never know Heywood’s motive for viciously stabbing Mr Bond, an act which is all the more surprising, when he was apparently someone she cared for and was in a relationship with.

“I would again like to thank the family and friends of Mr Bond for the utmost dignity they have shown throughout this trial and I hope that Heywood’s conviction brings some solace to them.

“Additionally I would like to thank my colleagues who’ve worked tirelessly to investigate this case, while also supporting Mr Bond’s family.  It is through their diligence, the hard work of the Crown Prosecution Service, as well as King’s Counsel Jeremy Benson presenting the facts of this case in court, that we have been able to deliver justice for Mr Bond’s family.”

GFL