Despicable murder of vulnerable man probed

South Wales Police launched a murder investigation after officers discovered Peter Lewis, 68, at around 2.45am on Saturday at his home on Claude Road, in the Roath area of Cardiff.

Police described the crime as “despicable” as they appealed for information about the attack.

Det Supt Stuart McKenzie said: “Officers attended the scene where they found a man collapsed in the communal hallway suffering from an apparent stab wound to the stomach.

“Police officers attended to Mr Lewis while awaiting the arrival of paramedics and Mr Lewis was then taken the University of Wales Hospital where tragically he died from his wounds.”

A post mortem examination confirmed Mr Lewis died of a single stab wound.

Mr Lewis, whose family also lives in Cardiff, lived alone in the ground floor flat on the residential terrace, which remained cordoned off yesterday.

“There is no apparent motive,” Det Supt McKenzie added.

“We are obviously working through our lines of inquiry to establish why somebody would attack such a well-respected, vulnerable, gentleman in the community.”

Chief Supt Alun Thomas, the divisional commander for Cardiff, said Mr Lewis’s family were “devastated” by the news.

“He was a vulnerable man with learning difficulties. He was a happy man who was very well liked in the local community.

“He was well managed by the social services and he had good contact with the neighbourhood policing team, which makes this crime a despicable incident that is causing us to put every ounce of energy, activity and resource into it, in order to catch the culprit.”