Man who thought people were trying to kill him in Fareham attacked female drivers as he attempted to flee

Paulius Minkevicius ambushed the women – including smashing one victim’s head against a window and repeatedly punching another – as he attempted to flee to apparent safety.

Portsmouth Crown Court heard how the 31-year-old wreaked havoc in Park Gate on November 10 as the women were happily going about their business before being plunged into violent struggles with the car intruder.

The court heard how Minkevicius, who is facing deportation by the Home Office, attempted to take the first woman’s car on Middle Road in broad daylight in front of shocked witnesses at around 1.30pm.

As the woman was inside her car, the defendant suddenly got in the vehicle before trying to grab her hand. ‘He tried to wrestle the keys from her and punched her three or four times,’ prosecutor Laura Bayles said.

Following the struggle, Minkevicius ended up walking off towards the Village Inn pub where the next incident erupted on Botley Road minutes later at 1.36pm.

Minkevicius, of no fixed address, was walking by the driver’s passenger side when he pulled open the door.

‘He was threatening and acting aggressively and pushed her head onto the window,’ the prosecutor said.

‘He pushed himself across to the driver’s side before she took the keys from the ignition and tried to get out of the car.

‘But the defendant grabbed her and told her to give him the keys which he put in the ignition before the car moved forward and stalled.’

Police, who had been called to the first incident, had quickly been redirected to the second offence before they arrested the defendant.

At the police station Minkevicius said he had ‘never done anything like this before’ and was trying to escape to get to the embassy. He added: ‘People are trying to get rid of me and kill me.’

Two days earlier, Minkevicius had terrorised staff at a Co-op store in Tickleford Drive, Southampton, at around 7.30am.

The defendant asked staff if he could use their phone to call police as ‘someone was trying to kill’ him.

While clutching a wine bottle and trying to go behind the counter the delusional defendant was ‘shouting and swearing’. He was asked to leave before pushing a female worker ‘forcefully’ in the face as he stormed past her.

Another female member of staff who had tried to intervene was involved in a struggle with Minkevicius while he was holding the wine bottle. The menacing behaviour left the victim ‘concerned’ about herself, staff and children in the store.

‘(The woman) was physically shaken after he had left and was concerned he would come back in,’ the prosecutor added.

Minkevicius also resisted arrest when police arrived at the store.

Daniel Reilly, defending, said Minkevicius had been handed a Home Office Detention document and faced being removed from the country.

But the barrister said Minkevicius was ‘acutely unwell’ at the time with his ‘actions driven by psychosis’.

He added: ‘(Minkevicius) genuinely believed he was fleeing a life threatening situation.’

SEE ALSO: Shop fined over out of date meat

The court heard Minkevicius had served four years in prison in Germany for robbery in 2015.

Two charges of attempted robbery for the incidents involving the car ambushes were not pursued by the Crown due to the mental episode he was suffering, with those offences instead reduced to taking a vehicle without consent.

He was also convicted of three counts of assault by beating, threatening and abusive behaviour, resisting arrest, and driving while disqualified.

Minkevicius, who had already served the equivalent of an eight-month sentence after being on remand for four months, saw his sentence reflect his mental illness at the time of the offences – and was handed a four-month term and given six penalty points on his licence.

Judge, Recorder Simon Foster, said: ‘These were ugly incidents that were committed while your health was not very good.’

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

Subscribe here for unlimited access to all our coverage, including Pompey, for just 26p a day.