7 days ago
Fugitive who mowed down pedestrian is still on run despite claims he would return
His family told the Sunday World he would be back in three weeks but he has now been on the run for more than seven weeks.
A MAN who fled Ireland for Moldova on the eve of his sentence for causing catastrophic injuries to a man he ran over remains on the run weeks after his family said he would return to Ireland to serve his sentence.
A bench warrant was issued for the arrest of Mihail Trofim on April 11 after he failed to turn up to Dublin Circuit Court to be sentenced for careless driving causing serious bodily harm and driving without insurance on June 8, 2022, at the Old Navan Road, Blanchardstown.
The Sunday World called to his home that week and his family bizarrely claimed he fled Ireland for Moldova for hospital treatment as the queues were too long in A&E in Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown.
His family told the Sunday World he would be back in three weeks but he has now been on the run for more than seven weeks.
His decision to flee means if he ever does return he risks having more time added to his sentence.
The Sunday World tried to contact Trofim on his phone and through social media this week but he did not respond.
He had actually turned up for sentencing on April 10 but the sentence was adjourned to the next day and it was during this period he fled.
Mihail Trofim posing with a Porsche SU
The court was told Trofim had attended hospital due to a medical condition. The court was later told gardai had made enquiries and could not then locate Trofim at the hospital. A warrant was issued for his arrest.
His sister told the Sunday World at the time that Trofim left the country and claimed he travelled to Moldova for hospital treatment because the wait was took long in Blanchardstown Hospital.
'He has his surgery on his leg. He is in hospital. He is in our country in Moldova. He will be about three weeks before he is back.
'He will be back. He knows.'
She claimed that he took ill after attending court on April 10.
'After the court on Thursday he was shocked and he has low blood pressure and has varicose on his leg. The vein just boom, you know.
Asked why he would travel all the way to Moldova and not just go to hospital in Dublin, his sister said: 'He was in Blanchardstown in the emergency department but you know you have to wait there and the GP said maybe it's better you go to Moldova.'
People with varicose veins are advised against travelling long distances due to the potential of blood clots.
Trofim's sister said her brother was distraught with causing the injuries to his victim.
The victim, who attended court in a wheelchair, required emergency life-saving surgery, was unconscious for 14 weeks after the accident and still doesn't remember the two years before it.
He has been left with a brain injury and can no longer play his musical instruments or paint.
In a victim impact statement read on behalf of his mother, the court was told the victim feels 'robbed of the life he had' and trapped.
'I'm encapsulated in a body that doesn't work as it should,' the victim said. 'I'm no longer able to do the things that made me happy.'
A number of medical reports were handed in to the court, which showed that the injured man sustained life-threatening injuries, along with broken arms, legs and ribs. He spent a year and a day in hospital, including in the National Rehabilitation Hospital.
He has been left with double vision, slurred speech, memory difficulties and impaired use of his limbs. He also requires the assistance of a wheelchair and constant care from his family, especially his mother, who moved counties to care for him.
Trofim said he didn't see the pedestrian crossing the road due to sunshine.
His sister said this week he was distraught over causing the injuries to the victim.
'I was reading the case and the comments below are so rude
'My brother didn't want to do this. Nobody wants to do this. Three years my brother was thinking about this person. I was thinking as well. We wanted to go to him but the solicitor said we cant go to help him and apologise. He said were not allowed to do this.'
She claimed at the time that he would be back in three weeks but seven weeks on he remains at large.
'He will be back and he will do his sentence,' she said.
