41‑year‑old Darren Steel was told he will serve a minimum of 20 years for killing 48‑year‑old Martin Steel at the victim’s home on Hill View Crescent, Clase, in May 2023. He was also sentenced for two separate assaults committed in the days before the murder.
A jury at Swansea Crown Court found Steel guilty of murder on Tuesday after rejecting his claim that he acted in self‑defence. Today, Judge Geraint Walters said Steel had launched a “frenzied” and “out‑of‑all‑proportion” attack driven by “uncontrolled rage” fuelled by drink and drugs.
Judge: ‘You intended to silence him. To kill him.’
Sentencing Steel, Judge Walters said he was sure the defendant intended to kill his brother during the assault in the early hours of 20 May.
He said Steel had “tailored” his account to fit the evidence and had done “absolutely nothing” to save his brother’s life after inflicting the fatal injuries.
The judge told him:
“Your intention at that moment in time was to silence him. To kill him. That was born from uncontrolled rage which was a consequence of the cocktail of drink and drugs you had voluntarily consumed.”
He said Martin had been subjected to a “horrific beating” in his own home and was left to die in an armchair, where he was later found by his mother.
Mother: ‘Every night I see him slumped in his chair, beaten to a pulp’
In a deeply emotional victim impact statement, Martin’s mother, Diane Steel, described the moment she found her son’s body as “the day my life changed forever”.
She said:
“Every night when I close my eyes to go to sleep I see Martin slumped in his chair, beaten to a pulp and covered in blood. Completely unrecognisable. Murdered at the hands of his little brother.”
She told the court she had “lost both my children in this tragedy — to death and to prison”, adding that she would now face her final years “without either of my boys by my side”.
Daughters describe trauma of losing their father
Martin’s daughters, Natasha and Surrie, also read statements describing the lasting impact of their father’s death.
Natasha said her father’s murder had left a trauma that “has never left me”, adding that he was not there to walk her down the aisle — something she had imagined all her life.
Surrie described her father as “funny, kind and charming”, saying her children had lost a grandfather and her baby daughter would only know him through photographs.
She said Steel’s conduct during the trial “sickened” the family and that he had shown “not an ounce of remorse”.
A pattern of violence in the days before the murder
The court heard that Steel’s violence escalated in the days leading up to the killing.
On 18 May, he tied a man — Julien Samuel — to a chair with parcel tape, repeatedly punched him, forced his thumbs into the man’s eyes and held a hunting knife to his throat. The following day, he assaulted him again with the help of his brother.
Steel was convicted of grievous bodily harm against Mr Samuel and assault occasioning actual bodily harm against his then‑partner, Dawn Begley, at an earlier trial. He received concurrent sentences of three years and one year for those offences.
Judge Walters described Steel as a “career criminal” with a long history of violence, saying he was “punch‑happy” and had a “very real propensity to use violence which is indiscriminate”.
Police: ‘The ultimate betrayal’
South Wales Police said the case had caused “significant” distress to the family and the communities of Clase and Morriston.
Detective Inspector Stuart Prendiville said Steel had committed “the ultimate betrayal” against his brother and caused further anguish by forcing the family through two trials.
He said:
“Darren Steel is a violent and dangerous individual and the life sentence and minimum tariff of 20 years is wholly justified in this case.”
Police also released footage of the moment Steel was arrested:
A community shaken by a killing inside the family home
The murder shocked neighbours in Hill View Crescent, who raised the alarm after seeing Martin’s dog running loose outside on the morning of 20 May. When knocks on the door went unanswered, they contacted his mother.
She arrived to find her son slumped in a chair, either dead or close to death. Steel, heavily intoxicated, had given police a false name when arrested and later lied repeatedly about what happened.
Judge Walters said the grief caused to Martin’s loved ones was “irreparable”.
Steel will serve at least 20 years before he can apply for parole. The judge said it may be that he is never released.
