In 2016 Metson was also given a community order for three offences of disclosing sexual images relating to another previous partner.
A year later Metson admitted breaching a restraining order relating to the same victim.
Prosecutor Gordon Aspden KC told the judge Lincolnshire Police were called to the couple’s flat on March 24 2023 because of a concern for Ms Bramley’s welfare.
Officers visited the home the following day and noticed a strong smell of ammonia and bleach, bloodstained sheets in the bathtub and a towel on the kitchen floor.
There was evidence of recent redecoration and cleaning. The police also spotted a number of large dark stains on the floor in the main bedroom, which later turned out to be Ms Bramley’s blood, Mr Aspden said.
Metson told officers his wife had been abusive to him, showing them a bite mark on his forearm, and she had left home with a local mental health support group on March 19.
Police subsequently found Metson had told lies to officers, who later returned to conduct a search of the flat.
“At one point Mr Metson joked she might be hiding under the bed,” said Mr Aspden.
‘What benefits do I get if my wife dies?’
The following day a walker “made a grim discovery” when he noticed plastic bags and a “Bag For Life” floating in the River Witham at Bassingham, one of which contained a human hand, he said.
Police divers recovered 224 remains of Ms Bramley’s body but some of her body parts, including parts of her heart, were never recovered, the court heard.
Mr Aspden said it was likely the 26-year-old was stabbed multiple times in the bedroom before being moved to the bathroom where she was dismembered. Her remains were then stored in the kitchen larder before being placed into the bags.
After murdering his wife, Metson withdrew £50 from her bank account and searched on the internet “What benefits do I get if my wife dies” and “Can someone haunt me after they die”.
CCTV footage played in court showed Ms Bramley was last seen alive returning to her flat on March 17.
Further CCTV footage showed Metson wearing a rucksack and using the flat’s lift and a Morrisons shopping trolley to move bags from the 14th floor to the ground floor in the early hours of March 25. They were then placed in Metson’s yellow Peugeot car.
Family left in ‘unimaginable pain’
In court, Ms Bramley’s mother, Annette Bramley, addressed Metson directly, telling him he had condemned her family “to a life sentence of grief”.
“The heinous way in which she was murdered and dismembered has left us in such unimaginable pain,” she said.
Mrs Bramley said Metson’s controlling and coercive behaviour had also left the family unable to see Holly in the years before her death.
Metson previously admitted conspiracy to pervert the course of justice by disposing of Ms Bramley’s body on March 25 2023, and was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment which will run alongside his life sentence.
He originally denied murder but later pleaded guilty when he appeared at Lincoln Crown Court last month.
Hancock, also 28, pleaded guilty to obstructing the Lincolnshire Coroner in the execution of his duty by helping to dispose of Ms Bramley’s body, and was jailed for three years and three months.
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