Son told dad: ‘You’re dead now’ before fatal attack
‘No provocation for revenge street assault on 73-year-old’
AKILLER son who headbutted and punched his ‘frail and elderly’ dad in a brutal ‘revenge’ street attack has been locked up for life for murder.
Heartless Dawid Arent cruelly told his dad Marek Arent “you are dead now” before launching a violent assault on the pensioner in a drinkfuelled rage, a court was told.
The 33-year-old held his dad’s ‘limp’ body over a wheelie bin before headbutting him with such force it caused his head to fling backwards. Marek, who had travelled from Poland to visit his family in the Black Country, appeared ‘scared’ to onlookers.
Stumbling on his feet, the 73-yearold was then subjected to a punch so aggressive it was described by one witness as 10 out of 10 in force.
It sent the victim ‘flying with one foot off the ground’, a shocked neighbour said.
The killer, who has previous convictions for assaulting women, then punched his dad to the groin as he lay semi-conscious before emergency services rushed to the scene.
But the pensioner died the next day after suffering a bleed to his brain.
Arent has been jailed for life, with a minimum term of 15 years after jurors found him guilty of murder by a majority following a trial at Wolverhampton Crown Court.
Sentencing, Judge Michael Chambers KC said Arent did not intend to kill his dad but wanted to cause him ‘very serious harm’.
‘Intoxicated’ Arent lashed out at the pensioner near his Wolverhampton home following an argument they had over the killer’s refusal to bring his younger brother to the UK. The convict ‘sought out’ his father before unleashing a ‘deliberate and sustained assault’, the judge said.
He told the court: “You were fully aware that your father was elderly and comparatively vulnerable.
“He was 73 and was described by the pathologist [as weighing] 9st and was 5ft 6in. He is seen on the photographs as being a slight, frail individual.
“On any view, he was no match for you, a tall, strapping, fit 33-year-old.”
There was ‘no provocation’ from the victim, the judge added.
Arent, of Hordern Road, Wolverhampton, denied murdering his
You were fully aware that your father was elderly and comparatively vulnerable... He was no match for you. Judge Chambers
father but instead claimed he was responsible for his manslaughter. He gave evidence during his trial claiming he was ‘angry’ and lashed out at his dad over comments he made.
But jurors rejected his version of events.
During his sentencing hearing, the court was told how Arent had two previous convictions for assaulting two female partners in 2016 and 2018.
Justin Rouse KC, defending, said Arent’s mum visited him four times in prison while his murder trial was ongoing. Arent, who was unemployed at the time, paid for his dad’s flights from Poland to the UK.
He said: “The reality is that this defendant loved his father. This was an event which, between the two of them, was wholly out of character.
“He deeply regrets the death of his father.”
During the trial, jurors heard how Marek was visiting his family from Poland and was staying at the home his son shared with his partner and their children just doors away from the scene of the crime.
The family had gone shopping and visited the park in the days before the murder on September 18 last year.
Prosecutor Kevin Hegarty KC told how Arent took ‘revenge’ on his father after accusing him of beating his mother.
The killer had bought beer in the lead-up to the attack and was seen ‘having difficulty standing’ as he plied himself with alcohol in the street.
Recordings from the scene revealed Arent ‘shouting in Polish’ and making ‘threats’ against his father He was heard saying “I will get locked up today”, “you are dead now”, and “I will f ****** kill you”.
The killer also repeated “how long have you been beating the f*** out of my mother”, the prosecutor said.