THE mother of the Ammanford teenager jailed for the brutal murder of Kelly Hyde has claimed: “There’s no way my son killed that poor girl.”

Adrian Vivian Jones, formerly of Mill Terrace in Pantyffynnon, was sentenced to a minimum of 12 years behind bars at Swansea Crown Court. Now plans are underway for an appeal.

Breaking her silence for the first time, Jones’ mother Diane, 36, told the Guardian why she is convinced of her 17-year-old son’s innocence.

“Whoever did that to Kelly is a psychopath and my son is no psychopath,” she said.

“For my child to be accused of something so evil just tore me apart.

“I had to face Kelly Hyde’s family at that trial and seeing the looks on her parents’ faces nearly killed me.

“My son had no motive. When they showed photos of the body in court I had to leave to be physically sick.

“The impact of those blows would have left whoever killed Kelly absolutely covered in blood. The force that was used was so violent their hands would be bruised and swollen.

“Kelly’s family have lost a daughter and I just cannot imagine their pain.

“I have a daughter of my own and if the same thing happened to her I wouldn’t be here now.

“I feel the deepest sorrow for their loss, but two families have been destroyed.”

The mother-of-three vowed to get her son’s conviction overturned and claimed the real killer was still on the loose.

“My 14-year-old daughter has to be in by nine o’clock every night and I text her every so often because I always want to know where she is,” she added.

“I saw Adrian for the first time since the trial on Sunday and he is still in a state of shock.

“But he was telling me to be strong because he knows I’m such a cry baby.

“The whole thing is so surreal and I keep thinking this cannot be happening.

“When I saw Adrian after he had been charged, he was curled up in a ball on the floor of a police cell crying his eyes out.

“He was accused in court of being cold and unfeeling, but he has been in a cell for nine months.

“He has had months of abuse from other inmates and has had to put up walls to protect himself.

“He was found guilty because he lied about finding the dog lead, but he has always been a magpie, he has always brought home things he has found.

“How can a child who is terrified because he has found something connected to a murder be expected to contact the police?

“If he had known anything about Kelly’s death he would have broken down and confessed under the pressure they put on him.

“My heart goes out to Kelly’s family, but Adrian is innocent.

“He is not guilty of anything and I will not sit back and allow this to happen.”