‘Murder accused laughed when 999 team came to flat’
AMAN alleged to have murdered his fiancée at their Cardiff flat laughed when paramedics arrived at the property, a jury heard.
Madog Rowlands, 23, from Coed Efa in New Broughton, Wrexham, denies murdering Lauren Griffiths, 21, at Glynrhondda Street in Cathays.
Her body was discovered at around 6.30pm on April 30 last year.
On the opening day of a trial at Newport Crown Court, jurors were told that Lauren had, in fact, been dead for a day – but Rowlands had not dialled 999 for 24 hours.
Instead, he had partially wrapped her body, ordered takeaway food, and tried to set up a Netflix account.
On Tuesday, Prosecutor Michael Jones QC told the court: “On April 29 last year this defendant Madog Rowlands murdered his girlfriend Lauren Griffiths by deliberately strangling her at her home address in the Cathays area of Cardiff.
“During the course of this trial you will hear the defendant told police he had strangled her with his bare hands around her throat.
“In the course of the 999 call he made he informed the operator Lauren was dead and he was responsible and had strangled her by mistake.”
Yesterday, witness statements from the two paramedics who attended the scene were read to the court.
Paramedic Nigel Theo said in his statement that his colleague Craig Dunne had found Ms Griffiths’ body in the property. Mr Theo said in his statement: “I asked [Madog Rowlands] if he did it and he said: ‘Yes I did’.
“My colleague asked when he did this and the suspect gave a laugh and said: ‘24 hours ago’.”
Paramedic Craig Dunne said in a statement: “I asked the male (Rowlands) when did this happen, whether it was minutes or hours, and he gave a nervous laugh and said: ‘It was last night’.
“I asked him what had happened. He said: ‘ Lauren has a dissociative personality disorder and last night she tried to attack me. She strangled me so I strangled her back.’
“He added: ‘I got high on LSD, MDMA and a few joints and tried to kill myself with a piece of rope but it became loose.’
“I could see red marks around his neck.
“I asked him about the patient and he said her name was Lauren Griffiths.
“Two police officers arrived at the address and directed him into the bedroom. I spoke to one of the officers and the other took out handcuffs so I left the address.”
Police constable Michael Lord said in a statement: “On the floor in front of me I could see the naked body of a female. Her legs were facing away from me and half her body was wrapped in cling film.”
Detective Sergeant John Hunt said in a statement that the bedroom was untidy and a mattress was on the floor. He said Ms Griffiths was lying on the floor next to the mattress and was in a foetal position.
He said he could see blood pooling and there was blood on Ms Griffiths’ chest which had come from her mouth and from her lower legs to her thighs she was wrapped in cling film. She was lying on plastic bags and her feet were also in a plastic bag.
Dr James Dunne treated Rowlands after he was admitted to A&E at the University Hospital of Wales in Heath, Cardiff, on April 30.
Dr Dunne said he asked Rowlands what had happened. Rowlands said he had a fight with his girlfriend, who tried strangling him, and he had strangled her and he had lost consciousness and when he came round his girlfriend was dead.
Rowlands said he had then taken drugs with an attempt at taking his own life. He also said he had taken cannabis, LSD, MDMA and drunk a bottle of whisky.
Prosecutor Michael Jones QC read out agreed facts between the prosecution and defence.
He said after Rowlands was released on conditional bail to his mother’s house in Wrexham he conducted searches on a laptop on May 13, 2019.
The defendant accessed Facebook pages belonging to himself and Lauren Griffiths and conducted internet searches for himself, Ms Griffiths, and their friends.
On June 13, 2019, Rowlands used a mobile to carry out a number of searches.
These included:
■ Credit for guilty plea
■ Mitigation overview
■ Mitigation checklist
■ Mitigation factor
■ How to show remorse
■ Living a life sentence
■ Parole
When questioned by police about these internet searches Rowlands’ solicitor provided a prepared statement.
The defendant said he was “anxious” about his future and looked up legal terms to make sure he understood them. He denied they constituted an admission of guilt as he had “no intention to harm, kill, or hurt Lauren”.
He said he looked up photos of Lauren because he “loved her and missed her” and looked up names of friends to make sure they had not been mentioned in connection with her death.
Rowlands denies murder and the trial continues.