'No angel' but 'talented', 'loyal', 'hard working' and 'always there if you needed him' - family's emotional tribute to man murdered by Wolverhampton woman
The family of a Telford man murdered by his estranged wife have told a court how the loss has left them broken.
Stafford Crown Court heard victim impact statements from Kyle Pugh's father, Keith, and his sisters Kayleigh and Victoria, ahead of the sentencing of his killer - Amy Pugh.
Pugh, 34, and from Stafford Road, Wolverhampton, was jailed for 14 years after being found guilty of Kyle's murder.
A jury concluded that Pugh had inflicted neck-compression injuries that led to his death, following an argument at her home in Newport, on March 22, 2022.
In the aftermath of the incident Pugh set about fabricating a story that Kyle, from Telford, had taken his own life, using his own history of mental illness as part of her efforts to avoid justice.
The statements read to the court told of the family's ongoing grief at the 29-year-old's death, as well as the impact of the protracted investigation and court proceedings that ended with Pugh's conviction.
The emotional statements also spoke of the battle the family had faced to get control of Kyle's body to hold their own funeral - having to raise significant amounts of money in just one day to pay a solicitor to allow them to prevent Pugh sending him for a rapid cremation.
The statement from Kyle's father spoke of the ongoing trauma from their loss, saying: "There are no words to describe the pain and suffering Kyle's death has caused and will continue to cause. We are now living in a new normal which we will never overcome."
The family had to endure seeing Kyle die in hospital, with Covid regulations limiting the number of visitors able to sit with him to just two - until his very final moments.
