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A killer who strangled his ex-partner and her baby son before using text messages and Facebook to announce what he had done has been jailed for life with a minimum of 29 years.

Wesley Williams used a ligature to carry out the "chilling, casual and calculated" killings of Yvonne and Harrison Walsh, who were found dead in their beds in June.

He later took to Facebook and posted: "Sometimes we just have to do things we shouldn't."

Jailing Williams for life at Birmingham Crown Court, Mr Justice MacDuff described the 29-year-old cannabis user as being "clearly evil and dangerous beyond measure".

Williams throttled Ms Walsh and her baby while another woman he had broken up with, Rebecca Shuttleworth, was standing trial at the same court for the murder of her own two-year-old son.

Details of Williams' previous relationship with Shuttleworth, who was jailed for life in June for killing Keanu Williams, could not be reported by the media until today, when a court order was lifted by the judge.

(Image: West Midlands/PA)

Williams, a violent offender with a string of previous convictions, is thought to have killed Ms Walsh out of anger after she ended their relationship as he planned to propose to her.

Investigations into the double murder established that Williams made the chilling Facebook comments almost immediately after the murders.

Ms Walsh, a social care graduate, is known to have been alive at 8.10pm on the same night and the prosecution submitted that she was dead by 8.54pm.

Inquiries by police proved that Williams told another social media user he was in good spirits, and had then posted "I am sorry it had to come to this" on Ms Walsh's Facebook page around that time.

Before his arrest at a flat in Henderson Court, Oldbury, West Midlands, on June 2, Williams also sent a text message to police, informing officers that he had killed his girlfriend, who was upstairs in a bedroom.

In the hours before he was apprehended, the killer was also captured on CCTV doing "high-fives" with a friend in a fast-food outlet.

Friends of Williams also told police he had seemed fine after May 31 and was "joking, laughing and smiling" as he played pool on a computer.

Ms Walsh, 25, and her seven-month-old son were found dead in separate rooms with the curtains drawn at their home in Chells Grove, Billesley, Birmingham.

Williams, who pleaded guilty to murder last week, was told he had killed two completely innocent and defenceless people for a reason which no-one of sound mind would understand.

(Image: West Midlands Police)

Mr Justice MacDuff told a completely impassive Williams: "Your subsequent behaviour demonstrates how unconcerned you were at what you had done.

"You used texts and Facebook to announce what you had done and you texted a police officer.

"You posted messages on Yvonne's Facebook about it and you behaved in a totally relaxed way, apparently enjoying the next two or so days in the company of friends before you were arrested, behaving normally as though nothing had happened, as though this was a mere trifle.

"You made no attempt to conceal your wrongdoing.

"This was chilling, casual, calculated killing. You are clearly evil and dangerous beyond measure.

"You are the only person who knows precisely why you acted as you did, but it is clear that you could not accept being rejected by Yvonne Walsh when you were proposing or intending to propose marriage, and she wanted no further part in a relationship with you.

"And you decided to kill her - in fact to execute her.

"It was your decision, casually taken, that she had to die. And then you killed Harrison as well, probably as he lay sleeping in his cot."

Speaking following today’s hearing, Yvonne’s brother Chris Walsh said: "Words cannot describe how we feel.

"We usually all spend time together over Christmas but now we can’t. Yvonne and Harrison won’t be there and it is such a loss for us.

"Yvonne was so joyful, she was the centre of attention because she was always so happy and such a doting mum. She loved her kids wholeheartedly.

"We are struggling as a family to come to terms with all of this. We are all there for each other but it is so difficult and emotional.

"We would like to thank West Midlands Police for everything they have done to bring Williams to justice."

Detective Chief Inspector Sarbjit Johal, from the homicide investigation team, said: "Wesley Williams has today been sentenced to a lengthy stay in prison after previously pleading guilty to the shocking and senseless murders of his partner Yvonne and her baby Harrison - who both had their whole lives ahead of them.

"Yvonne’s family described her as a warm and loving person who was a dedicated professional and absolutely devoted to her two young children.

"My thoughts are with their family, friends and the community that they lived in who are all still struggling to come to terms with their deaths."