Watch dramatic moment police capture hit and run van driver on 'journey of mayhem' after he killed a mother and injured 17

Matthew Tvrdon, 32, knocked down and killed Karina Menzies in Cardiff



Karina threw herself in way of his 3-tonne truck to protect her children

Witnesses said victims were sent flying like 'skittles' in deadly rampage



CCTV shows police jumped on his bonnet before ramming him off road



Tvrdon admits 32 charges including manslaughter of Menzies last year



Also pleads guilty to 7 counts of attempted murder - including 2 children



Drove van at 5 families in total and wanted to kill adults from each group

He's been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and in mental hospital

Believed victims were taunting him and said: ' I wanted to kill those people'

CCTV footage released yesterday revealed how police stopped a white van driver's 'journey of mayhem' after he had killed one mother and left another 17 people injured in a hit-and-run rampage.

Fearless officers eventually rammed tax officer worker Matthew Tvrdon, 32, off the road at more than 50mph after chasing him through the streets of Cardiff.

Tvrdon 'wanted to kill' parents picking up their children on the afternoon school run because he had broken up with his girlfriend in October last year.



Scroll down for video



Brave: After he had killed Karina Menzies, a police officer climbed onto Matthew Tvrdon's bonnet in a desperate attempt to stop his rampage

Chase: After being driven at by Tvrdon, two police officers (bottom right) gave chase on foot before they got back in their cars and raced after the suspect

Race: After speeding up a hill a camera inside this police car showed the moment it rammed the van, smashing a piece off its front and spinning Tvrdon off the road

During a 30-minute rampage he ploughed into and killed mother-of-three Karina Menzies, 31 hitting her three times with his three-tonne van - and even reversed backwards to drive over her again.

Karina had held her two children's hands and then pushed them out of Tvrdon's path before she was killed in front of them.

New footage shows how police had then chased the killer, threw themselves onto his bonnet as he drove at them before eventually smashing him off a busy road at high-speed.

The prosecution in Tvrdon's case yesterday accepted a plea of manslaughter with diminished responsibility in relation to Ms Menzies’ death after he denied murder.



In total he has admitted 32 charges including attempted murder of seven others - including two children. He will be sentenced at 2pm today at Cardiff Crown Court.



Tvrdon was suffering from delusions, heard voices 'inside and outside' his head and believed the five families he tried to kill had been taunting him.

The paranoid schizophrenic had driven eight miles around Cardiff and then aimed for young mothers using a three-tonne van as a deadly weapon, the city's crown court heard.

Sketched in the dock: Accused Matthew Tvrdon killed Karina Menzies and injured 17 others after he drove at families on the school run in 30 minutes of mayhem last October

Witnesses said that the people he knocked down went flying 'like skittles'. After killing Ms Menzies, Tvrdon then looked for more targets, leaving a trail of injured pedestrians in half an hour.

Deadly weapon: Karina Menzies was killed after Tvrdon mowed her down, dragged her along the street and then drove back over her after he had broken up with his girlfriend

'Tvrdon deliberately targeted five family groups and in each incident intended to kill at least one member of that family,' prosecutor Ian Murphy QC said.



'It was a journey of mayhem, it covered a distance of eight miles and a duration of 30 minutes.



'It was a series of deliberate and horrific incidents perpetrated by Matthew Tvrdon.'



Cardiff Crown Court heard Tvrdon aimed his van at single-mum Karina as she walked her two children Ellie, eight, and Tiana, four, home from school.



Mr Murphy said: 'The van veered across the carriageway and drove directly at Karina Menzies and her two young on the forecourt of a fire station, striking all three.'



The court heard witness Kevin O'Callaghan told police: 'This van suddenly veered off and drove to the other side of the road straight at a woman and two young children. All I remember is bodies flying through the air.



'The only way I can describe it is that it was like skittles. He then swung the van around in the forecourt and I could hear the engine revved up high.



'He then drove straight back at the female. I saw her moving slightly - he drove back over her and she got stuck under the vehicle and was dragged for ten to 20 feet.



Caught on camera: CCTV footage of crazed van driver Matthew Tvrdon, 32, showed him swerving across four lanes of traffic to drive at innocent pedestrians

'The van came to a stop just before a brick wall so he reversed it which meant running over body again with one of his wheels.'

Another witness Samuel Fowler saw Karina desperately throw her children out of the way of her van as he turned to hit them.



Mr Fowler told police: 'She raised herself up and had hold of a child. She was trying to push her daughter out of the way - the van just drove straight at them.



'I definitely heard his engine rev up. She had her free hand up to gesture to stop and was screaming.



'I think she managed to push her daughter out of the way. The van ploughed straight into her and didn't stop.'



The court was told Karina died from a 'series of catastrophic and extensive injuries.'



Her daughter Tianna suffered swelling and fractures to her right leg. Ellie had grazes to her head, elbow and knee - but the court heard both made full recoveries.



The court heard Tvrdon's terror drive started on a Friday afternoon in Ely, Cardiff, just as children were pouring out of school last October.

Mr Murphy said: 'Karina Menzies and and all the others attacked by Tvrdon were strangers.



'They were in places where they should have been safe. None of them had done or said anything to Tvrdon to attract his attention let alone this violence. '



Cardiff Crown Court heard how Tvrdon had driven 'erratically and dangerously' earlier, in the day in his black Renault Clio.

Senseless: Karina Menzies's family were in the packed court but some were so upset they had to leave



Much-loved: Karina's leopard print coffin being carried by friends and family at her funeral following her tragic death protecting her children last year

Bereft: Karina's sister Samantha is now looking after children (left to right) Sophie, 11, Tiana, three, and Ellie, eight, whose mother fought so hard to protect two of them from Tvrdon

TVRDON ADMITTED 'I WANTED TO KILL HER AND HER CHILDREN'

Crazed white van driver Matthew Tvrdon (right yesterday) was suffering from delusions known as 'gaslighting' - and believed victim Karina Menzies was targeting him, the court heard.

Gaslighting is when people believe others are trying to send them insane. In his interviews with psychiatrists Tvrdon claimed Karina Menzies and her children had been gaslighting him in a Tesco supermarket.

He told psychiatrists that when he saw them in the street he deliberately sped across at them.

'It all happened in a blur - it was a fast and furious thing that happened,' he said in an interview.

'I do admit I wanted to kill those people, just recognising the faces of the people who had been involved in the gaslighting. I just wanted revenge on them.

'I just ploughed straight into them. I can't remember if the lady got back up but I just went over her again.

'I guess I wanted to kill her and her children. I was really going for the adults but the children got mixed up in it.

'I had become really revengeful at that point. I knew I was doing wrong. I knew I had done a lot of damage just because of the size and weight of the van.'

Tvrdon said he felt like his heart was racing, he was having palpitations but he was in control of what he had done.

He said: 'I felt awful afterwards and I couldn't believe it. I felt horrendous.'

Tvrdon worked at tax offices in Cardiff where colleagues had described him as acting bizarrely in the days before the incident.

The court heard there is a history of mental illness on both sides of his family.

Tvrdon had no criminal record and no previous driving offences.

But he started having mental health problems in his late teens, manifesting themselves as mild hypochondria. By 2003 he had a severe psychotic illness and was out of touch with reality and was involuntary admitted to a mental health hospital after jumping out of a window, the court heard.

In 2007 Tvrdon was apprehended carrying an airgun and was again Sectioned under the Mental Health Act. It was found he was suffering from auditory hallucinations and believed people were conspiring against him.

In 2011 he was considered to be mentally well and then decided to stop taking his anti-psychotic medicine.

Mr Murphy said: 'He ran red lights, he drove on the wrong side of the road, causing traffic to get out of his way.



'But this driving pales into insignificance compared with what was to come.



'Tvrdon owned a three-ton van which was in good condition.



'The vehicle itself was not dangerous but the way Tvrdon drove it was dangerous in the extreme.



'He caused the death of one person and injuries to many, including really serious and life-changing injuries.'

The court was shown CCTV of Tvrdon parking his Renault Clio alongside his white Iveco van in the car park of a social club close to the home of his girlfriend Lisa Davis.



He is seen getting out of the car and climbing into the van. At one point Miss Davis approaches him and even stands in front of the van to stop Tvrdon leaving.



But Tvrdon drove off on his horror drive and his first victim was Mandy Morgan, 30. who was walking hand-in-hand with her children Kieanoh, eight and Deeroy, nine.



His next targets were Adam Lewis, 25 and his partner Anastasia Jones, 22, who were pushing their baby daughter Amelia May in her pushchair.



Amelia May, two, was catapulted through the air in a terrifying attack caught on shocking CCTV footage.

Tvrdon then aimed the van at 'bubby and fun-loving' single-mum Karina Menzies as she walked home with her children.



Tvrdon then ran over Aalyiah Selio, 31, and her daughters Jadah, 10 and Shaielle, 12, outside the shops on Grand Avenue.



They had been browsing birthday cards moments before before purchasing a jar of coffee and leaving.



Finally he ploughed into Rebecca White, 27 and her mother Gill, 49, as they left ASDA with their shopping.



Mr Murphy said: 'Tvrdon then attempted to escape from the police who were pursuing him. They brought his van to a stop using a skillfull manoeuvre.'



Tvrdon, of Cardiff, admitted manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.



He pleaded guilty to seven counts of attempted murder, two counts of causing GBH with intent and two counts of attempting to cause GBH by intent.

He also admitted five charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, common assault and dangerous driving.



Mr Murphy said: 'Tvrdon is accepting that all the ingredients of murder are established in relation to the death of Karina Menzies.



'But he avers responsibility because he was suffering from an abnormality of mental function which arises from a recognised mental condition, named paranoid schizophrenia.



'That condition affected his abilty to recognise what was going on around him and to exercise self control.'

Heartbroken: Karina's brother Gareth Menzies (centre) comforts his brother Craig Menzies (left) and sister Laura Williams as they attended a vigil outside Ely Fire Station where she died

Trail of destruction: Police survey the scene at Ely fire station in Cardiff where Karina was killed by Tvrdon

'KARINA DIED SAVING HER CHILDREN': SISTER PAYS TRIBUTE TO HERO MUM

The family of Karina Menzies yesterday told how she sacrificed her life for her two children - by using her body to shield them from the white van maniac.

Karina was holding her daughter’s hands as they walked home from school when they heard the roar of Tvrdon’s van behind them.

Devastated sister Samantha, 26, said: 'Karina died saving her own children from Matthew Tvrdon.

'They remember how she pushed them to safety but was killed there instead of saving herself.

'The girls were holding their mum’s hands on the way home when they saw her killed right in front of them.

'How will they ever get that image out of their head?

'Her daughters still cry for her and all I can do is cuddle them and tell them how much she loved them.'

Single-mum Karina, 31, was found dead on the pavement after being hit three times by Tvrdon. Ellie, eight, and Tiana, four, were injured alongside her (all above right).

Samantha said: 'Our family has been destroyed because of what Matthew Tvrdon did that day.

'We are very lucky we didn’t lose Ellie and Tiana as well.'

'The two little girls have recovered physically but still bear the mental scars of seeing their mum die in front of their eyes.

And they both know their mother sacrificed her own life to save them from being hit by crazed Tvrdon.

The little girls are being brought up by Karina’s sister Samantha just 10 minutes walk away from the scene of the fatal hit-and-run outside a fire station at Ely, Cardiff.

Samantha said: 'There are no words for what they have seen and been through.

'Karina was the most intelligent and funny person I have ever known. We all miss her so much - but nobody more than her children.'

Karina’s eldest daughter, Sophie, who has a degenerative muscle disease, was on a holiday for disabled children in Disneyworld, Florida, at the time of the crash in October (shown below) last year. The family waited until she came home four days later to break the tragic news her mum had gone.

Samantha said: 'She was hysterical and screamed: “Where am I going to go?” - she begged not to be put into care.

'But by then I had already decided to bring all three girls up as my own.

'It is what Karina would have wanted - I love the girls and I’m doing my very best to care for them and soothe their nightmares.

'Nothing will replace Karina. They miss her smile, her hugs, her laughter.'

The Family Court has made qualified nursery nurse Samantha the girls’ legal guardian.

Although she has no children of her own Samantha is doing her best to create a big happy family with her partner Lee, 40, and his three children, aged 11 to 16.

Samantha said: 'Life is still a complete rollercoaster. One day I think the girls are coping quite well, the next it’s clear to everyone they aren’t.

'The girls still have so much grieving to do.

'They talk about their mum all the time and we have pictures of her everywhere.

'If they cry for her I cuddle them and tell them how much she loved them.

'At least my nieces can feel safe knowing their mummy’s killer is behind bars and he can never hurt them again.

'I hope I can be as good a mum to her as she was.'



