Drone shot: The incident from the air (pic Matt Lewis)

A MILFORD HAVEN woman who bravely tried to grab the keys from the ignition of the silver Mercedes driven by a teenage girl who had failed to stop at the scene of an accident last week has now given her account to The Pembrokeshire Herald.

The girl was driving without a valid licence when she hit other vehicles on Victoria Road, outside Circles Nightclub on April 13 – but carried on driving.

A few minutes later Kate Meakin, 43, of Milton Crescent was a passenger in a friend’s vehicle when she spotted the car.

Recalling Thursday afternoon’s incident, she told The Herald: “I was at the bottom of St Lawrence Hill, near Celtic Hand Car Wash. When we stopped a man in a white van was already shouting, and told me that the driver of the Mercedes was the girl that the police were after for the accident up the road. There was damage to the front of the vehicle from the earlier smash.

“The girl was screaming, proper kicking off. I put my hand in through the open driver’s window and snatched the keys. If I hadn’t tried to take the keys she may have tried to keep on going; but when I put my hand in the window the girl tried to bite me, but I managed to stop her.”

Ms Meakin added: “She was acting crazy, off her head, foaming at the mouth and shouting but not making any sense. In my opinion and from looking at her eyes I would say that she had taken some kind of drug.

Blocked in: The Mercedes came to a stop on St Lawrence Hill (pic. Luke Thomas)

“I then left it to a man in a white van, who I think is an electrician, who finally managed to get the keys out whilst I flagged the police down.”

Luke Thomas, who works for James Findlay Electrical, had managed to get the girl to pull over. He told The Herald: “After I knew it was her after confirming with my boss [who witnessed the earlier crash] I started beeping and flashing and started point to the lay by and for some reason she pulled over.  I mounted the curb blocked her in and eventually grabbed the keys.”

Luke Thomas said that he did not see the girl try to bite Kate Meakin.

Police booked the teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and she appeared in court on Friday (Apr 14) to confirm her name and address. Among the charges are aggravated taking without owner’s consent and charges of no driving licence and no insurance.

Carnage: Damaged vehicles outside Circles Nightclub (pic. The Herald)

A Herald reporter who was nearly caught up in the incident on Hamilton Terrace before the driver was apprehended said: “A car came out of the junction by the Haven Hotel, hit the curb and and crashed into the side of a red car. It then bounced back onto the curb, and hit a white car that was following behind the red car.

“After hitting the two cars it drove off. I was driving from the roundabount near Hakin bridge, and I saw it coming toward me on the other side of the road. I noticed it was absolutely smashed to pieces – the front right hand side of the car was completely obliterated.

“It started to cross the white lines and I thought it was going to hit me, so I swerved to the left to avoid it and beeped my horn. It drove off toward the roundabout, and as I started to drive toward Hamilton Terrace I saw there had been a collision, so I got out and waited for the police to arrive.”

One of the drivers caught up in the crash told The Herald that he had just bought the car that morning.

Another witness, who was driving behind the Mercedes moments before it crashed, said he had reported the driver for using their phone whilst driving. He also said the driver was ‘smoking a fag’ at the same time.

Shortly before the incident, a Milford Haven local saw the Mercedes nearly hit a van.

Stevie Parkes told The Herald: “I was on the corner of Robert Street waiting to cross the road. The Mercedes pulled out in front of a van on the other side of the road and then had to swerve to avoid the bollards in the middle of the road.”

Both Dyfed-Powys Police and the Welsh Ambulance Service attended the scene.

No injuries were sustained, however an elderly lady who was in one of the cars was seen to by a nurse.

Map: The joy rider’s car was stopped near car wash (pic. Google)