A van driver who killed a mother-of-three in a hit-and-run rampage in Cardiff targeted five separate groups of parents and children in his “journey of madness and mayhem,” a court heard Wednesday.
Paranoid schizophrenic Matthew Tvrdon, admitted killing Karina Menzies, 32, when he mounted kerbs with his three-tonne Iveco van on October 19 last year.
Ian Murphy QC, prosecuting, said Tvrdon had admitted “trying to kill” at least one adult in each of the groups he aimed for in his deadly spree.
He said the 31-year-old , who will be sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court later, was “suffering from an abnormality of mental function” at the time.
Tvrdon pleaded guilty to seven counts of attempted murder, while the prosecution accepted his plea of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility in relation to Menzies’ death.
He also pleaded guilty to two counts of grievous bodily harm, five counts of actual bodily harm, two of attempted grievous bodily harm, and one count each of common assault and causing death by dangerous driving.
The carnage was carried out in Cardiff’s Ely and Leckwith districts as parents arrived to collect children from school.
A total of 14, half of them children, were hit and injured.
The prosecution said Tvrdon began the rampage in a black Renault Clio, speeding through traffic lights and mounting grass verges.
He switched to his Iveco van after driving into a car park in Cowbridge Road West.
“Once the defendant drives from the car park on to Cowbridge Road West, that was the start of the defendant’s journey of madness and mayhem,” said Murphy.
He said that the victims of the attack were innocent people, picked at random.
“Karina Menzies, who was unlawfully killed by the defendant, and all the others he attacked with this vehicle were strangers,” Murphy added.
“They were in places where they should have been completely safe. None had ever done anything to this defendant to attract his attention.”
Cardiff hit-and-run driver to be sentenced
