The mum of a man whose body lay undiscovered near Cardiff Central Station for two weeks is pleading for anyone who might have information about the final days of his life to get in touch.
Michelle Robinson, 47, said she’d been “left in the dark” ever since her son Ricky Robinson was found in undergrowth near the busy station on June 10. It’s believed his body had lain there for two weeks before he was found.
The mum-of-four is utterly distraught and heartbroken at losing her 29-year-old son and wasn’t even able to identify his body because it was so badly decomposed. So desperate was Michelle to see her son laid at rest that she even begged the funeral director to try and rebuild his face so she could have one last look at him.
“Someone must know something mustn’t they?” she said. “He couldn’t have been in that bush for two weeks without anyone knowing he was there. It was outside a train station and nobody saw him. Hundreds of people walk past that every day.
“I just want someone to tell me what happened. It’s harder not knowing what happened. I just want an answer and justice for my son as any mother would.” She added Paddocks Funeral Home and the undertakers, Stanley J Nicholas Ltd, were very supportive during such a difficult time.
Michelle is desperate to find out what happened to her son
(Image: Michelle Robinson)
Ricky had lived on the streets of Cardiff for some time before he died having moved to the capital from his family home in Argoed. He had a string of offences to his name having most recently been convicted of using threatening behaviour and assaulting a police officer in February this year and being subject to a community order up until June 21. Court records and Ricky’s mum confirm he was wearing an electronic tag at the time of his death.
Two weeks before he was found his brother Marcus phoned Ricky to tell him he was expecting a baby with his partner and Ricky – who would have turned 30 this coming Wednesday, August 25 – was going to be an uncle.
“Marcus wanted to tell him that and then we hadn’t heard from him after,” said Michelle about the weeks before Ricky, her eldest child, died. “He would’ve made a good uncle. He loved his brothers and his sister. He was close to them all – Marcus, Robert, and Scarlet.
“He used to ring all the time, from his hostel, but we hadn’t heard from him. We thought he was just out partying.”
Ricky lived at a hostel in Adams Court and it was they who’d reported him as a missing person earlier in May. Michelle said he’d been spotted in a bank in the capital city on May 26 but no-one had any more information about his whereabouts after that.
“Did anyone know Ricky? Did anyone see him before he went missing? Was anyone with Ricky the night he went missing?” his mum pleaded. “Someone must know something.”
Ricky had just been told he was going to be an uncle before he went missing
(Image: Michelle Robinson)
Ricky Robinson as a schoolboy. He was 29 when he died
(Image: Michelle Robinson)
South Wales Police has been investigating Ricky’s death since June 10 but the heartbroken mum said she’d been waiting for updates.
“His body was undiscovered for two weeks and since then I have not received any support from the police,” she claimed. “I feel I have been let down by the system. So has my son who was left there for two weeks undiscovered. His body was badly decomposed and I couldn’t identify the body. After two weeks of waiting to see it it was my son they finally discovered he was wearing an ankle tag, which could have been checked.”
She added: “If anyone knows anything or saw anything please could you message me with any information – no matter how big or small.”
The delay is due in part to waiting for the results of tests being carried out to establish the circumstances around Ricky’s death and to formally identify the body, which cannot be done through an electronic tag alone. A spokesman for South Wales Police said: “South Wales Police is continuing to investigate the death of a 29-year-old man whose body was found in Penarth Road, near Cardiff Central railway station, in June.
“The investigation is being carried out on behalf of HM Coroner and the man’s family has been informed that officers are awaiting a pathology report.”
The coroner said: “Investigations are still ongoing into the death of David Ricky Robinson and, at this stage, the coroner has not opened an inquest.”
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