Images of the chase across city that ended in death crash
THESE are the chilling images that show the moments a young woman was “driven to her death” during a late-night car chase in Cardiff.
Sophie Taylor was 22 when she died following a crash in Adamsdown at 12.35am on August 22 last year and her passenger Joshua Deguara was left with life-changing injuries.
The CCTV was released yesterday by South Wales Police and the Crown Prosecution Service after 23-year-old Melissa Pesticcio was found guilty of causing death and serious injury by dangerous driving.
Her former partner Michael Wheeler, 23, from Harlech Road, pleaded guilty to the same charges last December.
The footage, from what police described as a “relentless pursuit” by the cars driven by Wheeler and Pesticcio, was recorded by cameras at Roath Sports and Social Club, Gold Street, the Clifton Street pub, A Team Security, City Shop and Meteor Street.
Wheeler can be seen in his black Vauxhall Corsa stopping at traffic lights at the junction between Newport Road and Rover Way at 12.32am.
A moment later, Pesticcio pulls up alongside him in her white BMW One Series with his sister Lisa Wheeler in the passenger seat.
They appear to be talking to each other with the windows wound down and Pesticcio’s car can be seen inching forward.
Prosecutors alleged they were lying in wait for Miss Taylor.
The footage then shows Miss Taylor pass their cars in her black BMW One Series with Mr Deguara in her passenger seat. A second later, Pesticcio accelerates after her, followed by Wheeler.
In his closing speech, prosecutor Matthew Cobbe said: “The CCTV speaks for itself. It is, we say, plainly a pursuit.”
Prosecutors alleged Pesticcio started the pursuit and collision investigator PC Gareth Davies concluded she was the “lead pursuing car” for about 70% of the time.
The next footage, from Roath Sports and Social Club, shows the three cars speeding down the road at 12.33am.
Then the cars were caught on camera from the Clifton Street pub, with Wheeler’s vehicle apparently on the wrong side of the road.
At the junction between Newport Road and City Road, he can be seen turning sharply the wrong way around a junction, before the cars swerve down Glossop Road.
In his evidence, Mr Deguara said he could remember “swearing and aggression” coming from Pesticcio’s car.
Asked about the nature of her driving, he said: “She was trying to cut in front of us and make us slow down, make us stop. She was making Sophie use evasive movements.”
He added: “Her car was so close to Sophie’s – that image will stay with me. She was just driving so aggressively.”
Mr Deguara told the court he could remember Pesticcio and Ms Wheeler making rude gestures from their car.
Taxi driver Osman Jama was working around Newport Road at the time of the collision. He recalled hearing cars coming up “at speed” behind him and passing him while driving “very close to each other”.
Mr Jama said: “One car was trying to catch up – it went along the wrong side of the road and into oncoming traffic.
“Somewhere down Meteor Street they collided. One of them span around a few times and ended up in the middle of the road, while the other one hit a brick wall.”
Eye witness Michael Johnson, who lived near the site of the collision, said he heard a “loud screech” and “an almighty crash”.
In a witness statement read out in court, he said: “The BMW looked crumpled and had major damage to it. There were a lot of people gathered around the area.”
Collision investigators concluded the most likely cause of the collision was Wheeler “veering” into Miss Taylor’s car, causing her to lose control and spin.
The court heard her BMW then spun in a clockwise direction, before colliding with a building.
PC Davies described the rotation as “very fast”.
Prosecutors described the chase across Cardiff as a “protracted pursuit”.