South Gloucestershire | Archive | 2006 | February | 10
From the archive, first published Friday 10th Feb 2006.
INVESTIGATIONS continued this week into how a car burst into flames in Thornbury High Street and rocketed into a shop front.
Detectives are following leads that murder suspect Clive Steven Hayes - the 54-year-old man thought to have died in the fireball horror - bought petrol at a local filling station and doused himself with the fuel only minutes before his car blew up and erupted into flames.
Police chiefs refused to speculate on the cause of the explosion which claimed the life of the driver and a dog which was also in the car - believed to be Hayes's border collie, Angel.
Avon and Somerset police spokesman Ian Drury said: "We are aware of these reports and have viewed CCTV footage from the High Street area and from local garages. But we are not in a position to confirm or deny anything at this stage. "We are working very closely with Avon Fire Service to establish what happened and the results of the investigations will be fully aired at a coroner's inquest which will take place in due course.
"We are still appealing for help from people who saw anything of relevance, particularly in the time leading up to the first explosion."
Meanwhile, forensic pathology experts were this week still working to positively identify the man whose charred remains were found in the driving seat of the silver MG Rover ZT sports saloon - the car for which police had been searching following the murder of a young Polish woman in Patchway.
The body of 20-year-old care worker Karolina Mikolajewska was found at Hayes's flat in Worsdworth House, Coniston Road, on Tuesday, January 31, sparking a nationwide hunt for the unemployed man.
She died from head injuries. Police said it was an "horrific" incident, described Hayes as a serious risk to the public and warned people not to approach him.
Despite several reported sightings in the local area it was shortly before 7am on Friday morning - more than 60 hours after the murder was discovered - when Hayes's car was seen in Thornbury High Street. The car careered onto the wrong side of the road before smashing into the shopfront of florists T and J Owen on the corner of High Street and the Plain.
Emitting gouts of flame, the vehicle rolled to a halt in the middle of the junction with Castle Street near the town pump.
The driver was still alive - witnesses heard his screams - but the flames and heat were too intense for anyone to get near.
Fire crews, including personnel from Thornbury station, were on the scene in minutes and quickly dealt with the flames.
After initial in situ examination, the car was removed by a lorry for more intensive scrutiny.
The florist shop was unoccupied at the time but residential tenants upstairs were woken by the explosion and impact.
Nineteen-year-old Helen Burningham, a dance student at the town's NGM Christian charity, said: "I was asleep when I was woken by the bang and the sound of bricks crashing down. I looked out of the window and saw the car on fire. I could see someone in the driving seat but it was just a ball of flames and I don't think he could have been alive.
"I was scared that there might be children in the car as well. I didn't know what to do but then the firemen arrived. It was just horrible."
The dramatic incident - in which miraculously no one else was hurt - was over in minutes. But it marked the start of a day which will live in the memory of "quiet" Thornbury for many years to come.
Businesses suffered as a large part of the town centre remained off limits for several hours. The High Street was finally opened at 4pm.
© Newsquest Media Group 2008