A SIXTEEN year old schoolboy sipped tea with his stepmother at their home near St Clears--and then slaughtered her with an axe and a samurai sword.

Rueben Brathwaite -- who can be named for the first time today -- even took photographs of the injured and then dead Mrs Scourfield and tried to upload them to the internet.

Brathwaite, now 17, admitted the murder and was today ordered by a judge to be detained at her majesty's pleasure.

He will be held in custody for a minimum of 15 years.

Brathwaite could not receive a life sentence because of his age.

Swansea crown court heard how Brathwaite lived in a log cabin within the 14 acres of Broadmoor Farm with his father, a tree surgeon and landscape gardener, and his step mother, a keen animal lover.

Brathwaite moved into the cabin after his relationship with his birth mother deteriorated.

The High Court judge, Mr Justice Picken, said he developed an interest in murder and constantly researched it on the internet, studying graphic images of executions and mass murder.

He also began to feel isolated, depressed and "fed up with life," but psychiatrists later confirmed he had not been mentally ill.

Brathwaite developed the idea that he would commit suicide but if he killed someone instead it would "somehow get him out of it."

After returning home after a "regular, matter of fact" day at school he put his plan into action.

Brathwaite chatted with his stepmother over a cup of tea and then indicated that there was something wrong with a cat she was looking after.

As she left the farmhouse to attend to the animal Brathwaite hit her over her head with the blunt side of an axe "eight or nine times".

He took a photograph of her as she lay on the floor and tried unsuccessfully to post it on the internet.

Then he retrieved a samurai sword from under his father's bed and cut her throat with it.

Western Telegraph:

Rueben Brathwaite. PICTURE: Dyfed-Powys Police

Brathwaite telephoned the police and told them what he had done and said he would put the sword into a caravan, not to hide it, he said, but to put it out of the way.

After his arrest he said he had used the axe in the hope of knocking Mrs Scourfield unconscious so she would not suffer when he cut her throat.

Mr Justice Picken said he found Brathwaite's internet activity--and the attempt to post images of the murder as he committed it--to be "most disturbing."

He told Brathwaite, "You made a clear decision to to go to find those weapons and to use them to kill your stepmother.

"This was an attack of savagery against someone who cared for you.

"This was not a spur of the moment attack. It was clearly pre-planned."

Mr Justice Picken said if Brathwaite had been 18 the starting point would have been life with a minimum of 25 years.

But he had to have regard for his age to discount the sentence in return for his plea of guilty.

Brathwaite displayed no reaction as he was led away.

Mr Justice Picken then ruled that the court order protecting Brathwaite's identity should be lifted because of the seriousness of his offending and because people in the area had the right to know who had murdered Fiona Scourfield.

Detective Superintendent Gary Phillips said: "This is a tragic case where Fiona Scourfield lost her life in a savage and unprovoked attack at her home near Laugharne on March 6.

"The sentence passed today reflects the brutality of her murder and is a sentence which I hope will help to provide some closure for her family.

"I would like to thank the police investigation team and the Crown Prosecution Service for their hard work and dedication in bringing this case to a successful conclusion and our thoughts are very much with Fiona’s family and friends at what is a very difficult time for them.”