A vengeful factory worker texted his sister in Romania ‘w****s must die’ before stabbing his pregnant ex-partner on the streets of Aberfan after their relationship broke down, a court has heard.
Daniel Mihai Popescu, 29, has been jailed at Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court for 17 years and four months for the attempted murder of Andreea Pintili in Aberfan, South Wales, on December 5 last year.
Popescu was already on bail for stalking Miss Pintili when he lay in wait behind a parked car, armed with an eight-inch kitchen knife.
The bloodcurdling screams of 37 week pregnant Miss Pintili were heard on a video played to the court where Popescu admitted attempted murder and stalking.
Mother-of-two Miss Pintili was pregnant with Popescu’s baby but the couple had split up and he had started following her to work, banging on her windows and taking photos of her.
Carwash worker Popescu, a Romanian with permission to stay in the UK until 2028, told a friend he planned to kill Miss Pintili’s formed boyfriend who she had started seeing again.
But on the morning of December 5 last year he took an eight-inch kitchen knife to Miss Pintili’s home and lay in wait.
When she returned from taking her children to school Popescu pounced, stabbing her twice in the back and causing injuries to her hands where she tried to defend herself.
Supermarket worker Miss Pintili and her baby both survived the attack in Aberfan, South Wales, last year and her son was born unharmed at Christmas.
Popescu had been told that the child would not be raised as his, that he would have no contact with the child ever and he would not be named on the birth certificate.
Mr Hipkin added that Popescu had pre planned the attack, noting that a man he was staying with said that the chocolate factory worker had been ‘agitated and annoyed over a period of time’.
He also said Popescu revealed plans to ‘stab his ex-girlfriend’s new partner’ and ‘was leaving the house everyday between 4am-5am to go to Aberfan to look for the new partner.’
At one point, Popescu left two bags of his clothing outside her home and left her a voicemail, saying: ‘Don’t touch my clothes, I’m not going from the street until you get back together with me’ – and repeatedly knocked her window.
As a result of this, Popescu was arrested and released on bail with a condition not to contact her.
Despite this, Mr Hipkin told the court that Popescu continued to stalk her and even texted his sister in Romania saying that he had been ‘following them [her ex-partner] everyday’ and discovered that she had gotten back with him.
He sent another messages to his sister which said: ‘Yes, w***** must die.’
Home Bargains shop assistant Andreea had only moved to a new house in the former pit village along with her two children a month before the incident on December 5.
Two video clips were played to the court which showed Andreea walking along the street near her home before Popescu emerged hiding behind a red car and attacking her.
The footage show Andreea try and break free – after Popescu grabbed her arm – before she fell to the floor and screamed as Popescu stabbed her with a knife with a 7 to 8 inch blade multiple times.
Fortunately, a woman nearby saw the attack and ‘screamed and ran to try and help’ which caused Popescu to run off.
Andreea had suffered three superficial defensive wounds to her hand – two penetrating wounds 3-5cm long and 1cm wide, to the right side and left of her back.
She also suffered a wound to the superficial tissues of her back just to the right if the midline.
She was taken to the UHW and fortunately her unborn child was not harmed – and she was discharged the following day.
In a victim personal statement read out to the court by the prosecution, Andreea Pintili said she felt ‘lucky to be alive after this harrowing experience.’
She said that she feared for her life as Popescu came at her with a knife and tried to get her into her home.
‘I have no doubt that if he had got me into the house he would have killed him. This was clearly his intention that day, to kill me and my unborn child,’ she said in her statement.
The court heard how the incident has impacted her confidence when leaving the house and socialising with friends – and now she constantly has to lock her windows and doors to feel safe in her home.
She said that she’s ‘happy’ he pleaded guilty but will ‘never be safe from this man.’
She added: ‘I feel very scared and anxious of the thought of him being released. He did not abide to any bail condition set to him, and I feel he’ll also ignore any restraining orders placed upon him.’
David Aubrey KC, defending, said that Popescu and Andreea were due to have a child together – who was born after the attack.
He told the court that after they separated, Popescu was informed by the former partner that when the child was born, the child was ‘not to be raised as his’ and ‘that he would have no contact with the child’ or named as the father on the birth certificate.
The court heard that Popescu was also sleeping rough, with concerns he was sleeping on a park bench and further concerns about him committing suicide.
Mr Aubrey stressed that this was ‘no suggestion that there is any justification’ for Popescu’s actions.
Popescu, of no fixed address, admitted the first two charges and the court heard prosecutors will not pursue the accusation of witness intimidation.
The judge, Recorder of Cardiff, Tracey Lloyd-Clarke told Popescu: ‘Only an immediate custodial sentence is appropriate in this case’.
She told Popescu that she took into consideration that he had no previous convictions, cautions or reprimands and had a difficult background, but added: ‘You feel very little true remorse.’
She agreed that Popescu is at ‘high risk of serious harm to current victim and future partners.’
Popescu was sentenced to 17 years, four months and an extended licence period of three years – making an extended sentence of 20 years and four months.
‘You will serve two-thirds of the custodial period in prison before the Parole Board will consider whether it is safe to release you, and if so on what terms, she added.
He was also ordered not to contact Andreea or the children indirectly or directly again – or enter the area of Mythyr Tydfil.
The stabbing happened just yards from where 144 people died when colliery spoil tip collapsed and covered a school in 1966.