Thursday, 6 June 2013

Cardiff hit-and-runs killer detained

Source BBC News@ tienganhvui.com


Matthew TrvdonArtist impression of Matthew Trvdon in court at an earlier appearance


The van driver who killed a mother-of-three and injured 17 other people in a series of hit-and-run incidents around Cardiff is due to be sentenced.


Matthew Tvrdon, 32, drove his van on an eight-mile "journey of mayhem" lasting 30 minutes on 19 October 2012.


Karina Menzies, 31, died when she was hit by the van near Ely fire station.


Tvrdon, who has paranoid schizophrenia, has admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility at Cardiff Crown Court.


He has also admitted seven counts of attempted murder and other charges including three counts of grievous bodily harm with intent.


On the first day of the sentencing hearing on Wednesday, the court heard he knocked people over like "skittles" as he targeted adults and children at five separate locations in the west of Cardiff.


Eye witnesses reported Tvrdon driving aggressively and erratically, heading towards oncoming traffic and swerving across lanes to mount kerbs in an effort to run over innocent people.




Matthew Tvrdon's 'journey of mayhem' through the west of Cardiff was captured by CCTV cameras



In the most serious incident he targeted Ms Menzies as she walked on the forecourt of the fire station with two of her children.


She pushed her children out of the way before the van hit her. Tvrdon then turned around and ran over Ms Menzies again before reversing over her.


A witness described how Ms Menzies was semi-conscious and her two young children were calling out for their mother.


The court was shown CCTV footage which showed each of the attacks in detail:



  • The first victims were at Crossways Road in the Ely area of the city. A woman, 29, and her two children - a boy, nine, and girl, eight, were injured.

  • In Cowbridge Road West, a man, 24, and woman, 22 walking their two-year-old daughter in a buggy near Ely Reptile Centre were targeted.

  • Karina Menzies and her two children, eight and 23 months, were the next people Tvrdon drove at near Ely fire station in Cowbridge Road West.

  • At Grand Avenue in Ely, Renee Selio and her two daughters aged 10 and 12 were hit on a zebra crossing.

  • Tvrdon later attacked three people with a steering lock at the Asda petrol station at Leckwith retail park with the victims suffering minor injuries.

  • He got back into his van and drove at Gill White, 49, then her daughter Rebecca, 27, dragging them under the vehicle. They suffered multiple injuries.


Tvrdon was eventually stopped by police on the outskirts of Penarth, attempted to resist arrest and tried to assault a police officer with a crook lock, before being sprayed with CS gas.


The defendant, who tested negative for drink and drugs, told police he was under stress at work and had split up from his girlfriend.


Tvrdon had spent time under psychiatric care in 2003 and 2007 after he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia but he had stopped taking his medication under medical advice in 2011.


He had "behaved strangely and bizarrely in the days before the offences", the court was told.


He is due to be sentenced on Thursday afternoon.


Meanwhile the Welsh government has said it is considering referring the case for an independent review.


Karina MenziesKarina Menzies was killed while walking with her children near Ely fire station





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