Durban - Hundreds of people gathered in England on Thursday to remember and celebrate the life of former Royal Marine Brett Williams who was beaten to death outside Durban’s Kings Park Stadium last month.
The 29-year-old was laid to rest at an afternoon service at St Mary’s Church in Bishops Lydeard, Somerset, which included a military send-off. He was dressed in military uniform with his medals, and his coffin was draped in the Union Jack.
Speaking after the funeral from the Kings Arms pub in Taunton, where Williams’s life was celebrated further, his fiancée, Louise Scott, was still emotional as she spoke about his final goodbyes.
“Absolutely hundreds of people came. We could hardly find space for all of them. It just shows the hundreds of lives that he touched, and they are all here (at the Kings Arms) now,” she said by phone.
She said while the funeral was “very, very emotional”, it was, at the same time, a celebration of Williams and his life.
“When we took him outside into the sun, we could feel the warmth of the sunshine on us and it was amazing actually.”
Scott said she wanted to thank everybody in South Africa for their support during the trying times since Williams’s death. She had received hundreds of messages from people in the country.
Williams, who was working as a maritime safety officer and was in Durban while his ship was docked, was beaten to death by five men after the Sharks Super Rugby match against the Melbourne Rebels. He was killed on Scott’s birthday.
Speaking to the local media a few days after the tragic incident, Scott said Williams had phoned her a few hours before he had been killed to say he loved her and their daughter, Lailah, who turned four on April 4.
Josh Mills, a friend and former colleague in the Royal Marines, told the Somerset County Gazette that Williams was an “absolutely fantastic guy” and a “top quality family man” who “thought the world of Louise and Lailah”.
Scott has always echoed those sentiments, saying Williams would have done anything for her and their daughter.
The five men charged with Williams’s assault and murder were released on bail and will appear in court again in June.
The Mercury