Man tried to throw girl under Tube train

A MAN who tried to kill a stranger by grabbing her in a bear hug to throw her in front of an oncoming Tube train has been jailed for 10 years.

Arthur Hawrylewicz, 42, pleaded guilty to attempting to murder then 22-year-old Maria Osifeso on August 29 last year as she travelled to Notting Hill Carnival in London with friends.

Prosecutor Suki Dhadda said the pharmacist was waiting at the platform of King’s Cross Underground at about 1.15pm when “she felt arms wrap around her waist in a bear hug.

“She was then picked up, her feet left the floor and she was swung to the left – she thought in an attempt to put her on the track or in front of the train pulling into the station.”

Inner London Crown Court heard she was saved by friends, including Constantinos Spyrou, who got between them and forced Hawrylewicz to the ground, where he hit his head on the train and was knocked unconscious.

In a victim-impact statement, Ms Osifeso said she was left reeling and wondering: “What if?”

She said: “What if my friends hadn’t been there? What if my male friend hadn’t jumped in to grab him? What if I had been standing closer to the tracks?

“I would most likely be dead and my family mourning the loss of a daughter.

“It is incredibly traumatic to think how close I came to dying.”

Ms Osifeso said the effects had been “profound and long-lasting” and she now suffered “overwhelming anxiety” when travelling alone on the Tube.

Judge Benedict Kelleher sentenced Hawrylewicz, of Avondale Gardens, Cardiff, to 10 years imprisonment, telling him he would serve up to two-thirds of the term in custody.

Father-of-two Hawrylewicz, originally from Poland, had lived in the UK, where he worked in the construction industry, for 15 years and had been in London for work.

The court heard his young family had returned to Poland in August 2021 and messages indicated he was depressed about his life.