Support plea after mum’s van killing

THE sister of a woman killed when she was mown down by a van driver has said there should be more support for victims’ families.

Karina Menzies, 32, was with two of her young daughters when paranoid schizophrenic Matthew Tvrdon drove into her in Cardiff on October 19, 2012.

Tvrdon – who was sentenced indefinitely to a maximum security hospital in 2013 after admitting manslaughter – killed her with his three-ton van outside Ely fire station.

In a frantic final act, Karina threw her daughters to safety before she was killed.

During his eight-mile rampage across the city 17 people were injured.

Now Karina’s sister, Samantha, who is bringing up her sibling’s three children, is calling for more support for victims’ families.

Speaking to BBC Radio Wales, Samantha said: “One day you’ll feel fine, you’ll feel like you want to fight the world, and then the next day you’re thinking, ‘I can’t do it. I feel defeated. I don’t think I’m good enough for the job.’

“That’s when you need your friends and family to pick you up and say, ‘actually, in spite of everything, you’re doing a good job.’”

Samantha said the family had been in touch with a number of organisations but services had become more difficult to access.

She added: “I think we’ve been really lucky because it’s such a high-profile case that people have instantly known about it and some have offered support and some have offered to ask other people to refer us for support.

“But I will say, as time is going on, the support is getting less and less and you’ve got to fight for the support.

“A lot of people need support and I definitely think there’s not enough for everyone who needs it.

“I think we need to have a long, hard look at that system and do something about it.”

Speaking to Wales Online last year, Samantha revealed the challenges of bringing up Karina’s three daughters, Sophie, Ellie and Tiana.

The Cardiff High School employee said: “I see Karina in the kids every day.

“The way they laugh – the eldest has my sister’s laugh – the way they look and the things they do.

“It’s quite comforting to know that she does live on in them and everything they do.

“I take comfort in the fact that she is around still protecting them.”