Sorry truth behind ‘race hate’ killing
His senseless death provoked a storm after Brexit vote ... but court hears it was Polish victim who made first racist taunts at youths
‘A troublesome background’
Poles could leave UK en masse after ‘race hate killing’
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A TEENAGER has been jailed for three years for killing a Polish man with a ‘Superman punch’.
The attack in Essex last summer was cited as evidence of hate crime in the wake of the EU referendum.
The family of the victim – Arkadiusz Jozwik – said he was assaulted after being overheard speaking Polish.
Poland’s ambassador even visited the scene of the killing and warned of a rise in xenophobic attacks.
But yesterday a court was told there were allegations of racism on both sides.
Patrick Upward, in mitigation, said Mr Jozwik and a friend were ‘ staggering from drink’ and had made racist remarks to the youths with his 16- year- old attacker. ‘It was after the deceased pushed one of the youngsters that this defendant did what he did and that presents a rather different picture from the hullabaloo that arose after this incident took place,’ he said.
The boy, who was 15 at the time of the attack in Harlow last August, was found guilty at Chelmsford Crown Court.
His sentencing hearing at the court yesterday was told he had convictions for possessing half a knuckleduster and for threatening behaviour and was on bail for a separate matter at the time of the attack. He cannot be named because of his age.
Rosina Cottage, prosecuting, said the youths may have laughed at the English spoken by Mr Jozwik and his friend.
The QC said that in the ensuing altercation the defendant went behind his victim and punched him in the head. He used the full force of his body to deliver the ‘Superman punch’.
The blow sent Mr Jozwik crashing to the ground. His head smashed into the pavement and he died in hospital two days later.
The QC added: ‘ He had no intention to cause really serious harm to the deceased.
‘However, by using the force he did, taking a man completely by surprise from behind, he must have been aware that some harm was likely.’
Mr Upward said victim statements showed Mr Jozwik was a hard-working, warm and affectionate son, brother and uncle.
But he added: ‘One of the unusual advantages of this case was that there was a trial. Far from being the all-affectionate individual of those that knew him, the deceased and his companion, according to witnesses, were staggering from drink.
‘They made racist remarks to the youths and invited violence from those youngsters and they were considerably bigger and stronger than the young people.’ Mr Upward described the defendant as a ‘shrimp’ – just over five foot tall and weighing less than ten stone.
Sentencing the teenager to three years in a young offenders institution, Judge Patricia Lynch said she had taken into account his youth and ‘troublesome background’. She pointed out that he had fled the scene, adding: ‘It was a tragic death and his family has suffered as a result of it.
‘They have told me through their statements that they sat through the trial and that they gained some sort of comfort from the jury’s finding of guilty.
‘But it follows that anything that I may say or do, any sentence I note, can’t make up for the massive loss they have suffered and live with for the rest of their lives. The case is also a tragic one not only because of his death, but because I could have to sentence a young man who is but 16 years of age.’
There were shouts of ‘Love you’ from the public gallery and sobs as the defendant was led to the cells. A male relative of Mr Jozwik muttered ‘not enough’ in Polish from the public gallery.
Afterwards, Maciej Woroch, the London correspondent for Polish news channel TVN, who was covering the sentencing told the Guardian: ‘Everyone firstly thought it was a hate crime, then we had to explain during the trial why it was changed. Now I have to explain to my viewers why the sentence was only three years.’
Mr Jozwik’s mother, Ewa, who walked with her son every morning to the factory where they both worked, said in her impact statement: ‘A year has passed since Arek died but every day I miss him as much.
‘There are moments I don’t want to live any more.’
Mr Jozwik’s brother said he had to take two months off work to come to terms with it.
Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, weighed in to the row over Mr Jozwik’s death last summer. He said it showed the danger of a divided Europe.