EXCLUSIVE: Romanian wanted over brutal axe attack is arrested in the UK and now facing extradition

A MAN wanted to serve a five-year attempted murder conviction in Romania has been arrested in the UK.

Razvan Caldararu, 41, was arrested by police under a European Arrest Warrant and brought before Westminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday, November 23, 2023.

He consented to be extradited to Romania and was remanded into custody ahead of a flight being arranged.

Reports in Romania say Caldararu, known as "Greuceanu", is part of the Roma community and was arrested with two other men in October 2016 after two other men were seriously injured, one of them shot in the leg in the Târgujian Obreja district.

A Romanian report at the time of arrests, translated into English, said: "Marinića Bonculescu is accused of attempted murder and disturbing public order and peace, just like Marius Nișciuc, known as "Mariusică". He was also charged with the crime of non-compliance with the weapons and ammunition regime. The third individual put behind bars is Răzvan Căldăraru, known as "Greuceanu", the charges against him being similar to those of Sandokan.

"The three went uninvited to a party organized in the neighborhood and attended by Ionel Ștefănescu, recently released from prison for a crime committed almost two decades ago. Obviously, the party degenerated, and the Roma started fighting.

"The defendant Nişciuc Marius, being armed with a pistol, hit BMC in the face with its handle, a conflict that took place on Aurel Vlaicu Street, as the latter had fled the yard of B A's residence. Shortly after, the defendant Căldăraru Răzvan called "Greuceanu", armed with a hatchet, intended to hit BMC twice in the head area, endangering his life.

The fact that the fatal result did not occur was due to the first time the victim BMC parried the blow with his left hand, and the second time the latter ran away from the direction of the axe, which does not remove the defendant's intention to suppress his life. Given the fact that BMC managed to escape by running away, the two defendants returned to BA's house, with the intention of continuing the conflict with the other people who were in that location. In this situation, the injured person AND I intervened to settle the conflict, the circumstance in which the defendant Bonculescu Marinică intended to hit him with an axe in the head area, aiming to suppress his life, but this result did not occur because the injured person he had the presence of mind to parry the blow with a chair that he found nearby".

"Ștefănescu parried the axe coming towards him in vain because "Mariusică" took out a gun and fired at him, shooting him in the right leg, in the thigh area. Ștefănescu arrived at the hospital, doctors intervened surgically to remove the 5-6 mm caliber bullet. However, the investigators determined that "Mariusică" fired several shots, his intention being to kill Ștefănescu. The gun was used in conditions where it was not legally owned, subsequently, all three aggressors evaded investigation, Sandokan already being indicted in another case with similar charges. Their arrest also occurred after, last Thursday, "Greuceanu" entered the house of another man injured in the initial scandal with an axe. He broke the home windows, although he should have been at the Prosecutor's Office or the Police for hearings in the case. The investigators assessed that the preventive arrest of the three was required and during Sunday they managed to obtain arrest warrants in their names, including that of "Greuceanu", he evading the investigations. However, the police managed to catch him later and put him behind bars, the scandal that is the subject of this criminal file being the third in the last few weeks in which Roma from Obreja fight or even use guns to make their own law in neighbourhood ."