French rail murderer gets 30 years

Aaron Powell died from a single stab wound to the heart

A Moroccan man has been found guilty of stabbing to death a Welsh tourist in an unprovoked attack at a French train station.

Elias Laguedani, 20, admitted killing mechanic Aaron Powell from Cardiff who died after he was stabbed through the heart at Orleans railway station, but denied murder.

Laguedani initially claimed he and Mr Powell had been in a fight and he had stabbed the Welsh grandfather in self defence, but later admitted he had self-inflicted injuries to support his story

Mr Powell, a 56-year-old mechanic from Cardiff, was travelling to Spain in April 2002 soon after the trial of a motorist who killed his daughter Mandy in a hit-and-run accident in the Welsh capital 18 months before.

He died from a single stab wound to the heart.

Mr Powell's widow, Maria, had travelled to Orleans for the trial and has been supported by friends of the family in Grangetown in Cardiff who have raised funds to contribute to her legal and travel costs.

The family held hands and cried together for around 20 minutes after the verdict and sentence were announced.

Laguedani had earlier told the trial he had bought the murder weapon, a 22cm knife, for his grandmother.

But he had forgotten to give it to her and instead had hidden it in his sock, he said.

Alcoholic

Laguedani's defence lawyer said that on the day Mr Powell was killed, his client was out looking for trouble but had not intended to kill anyone.

Psychologists had told the court that Laguedani had a grudge against society and was also an alcoholic.

When he was killed, Mr Powell had just arrived in France on his way to Barcelona with family friend Claire Alderman, 29.

They were due to transfer to the second central railway station in Orleans, south of Paris, from where they were to take a train to Barcelona.

Mr Powell had left his companion with their luggage while he went in search of food for their onward journey.

His body was found in a corridor linking the station to a commercial centre.

Later lawyers for Laguedani said he would appeal within a year.