A jury in a murder trial has heard how a man was allegedly beaten unconscious with an iron in “a violent and vicious attack” before being attacked again to “finish him off”.
The battered body of Jaroslav Daniszewski was found in a blood-spattered flat on Stead Street in Shipley on April 22 last year.
Emergency services arrived at the scene when Zbigniew Chlebek rang 999 and said: “Please attend my address, because I don’t know what has happened. All I know that there is a man lying here and…well, he’s dead.”
Mr Daniszewski had been struck with the iron to his head and face, causing cuts, bruises, a broken jaw, and “profound injury” and bleeding to his brain that rendered him unconscious, defenceless, and helpless.
Forensics officers in Stead Street, Shipley (Image: Newsquest)
Chlebek, 67, is on trial for murder at Bradford Crown Court alongside Beata Walczak, 58, of Barkerend Road, Bradford, who was in a relationship with 43-year-old Mr Daniszewski at the time.
Both deny murder as well as an alternative charge of manslaughter.
Opening the trial, barrister Jason Pitter KC described how Mr Daniszewski may have been fatally injured on the evening of April 20 when he, Walczak, Chlebek, and another man, Bolestaw Roj, gathered at Chlebek’s flat to socialise and drink alcohol together as part of an Easter Sunday celebration within the Polish community.
Mr Roj, who has since died, made several attempts to call an ambulance during the course of the evening but failed due to language barriers.
He then left the flat, leaving the other three together.
Police vans in Stead Street, Shipley (Image: Newsquest)
Mr Pitter said: “It is with that backdrop that Daniszewski was murdered, and the prosecution say these two [Chlebek and Walczak] are responsible for it.
“Whilst we cannot say precisely what happened or indeed why, we say that the proper conclusion is that these two defendants are responsible for the killing, fatally injuring him, or at the very least assisting or encouraging the other to do so.
“Therefore, they are guilty of murder.”
The jury heard that there was “a change in the visible atmosphere” between those in the flat, which was caught on CCTV.
Mr Pitter said something had upset Mr Daniszewski as he and Walczak walked to Shipley town centre at about 7.45pm on April 20.
He was seen to pause and stop in the street and turn back towards the flat but was consoled by Walczak.
Mr Pitter suggested that “there were tensions brewing” among the group at the flat and that something triggered a situation that would leave Mr Daniszewski dead “following a violent and vicious attack from his close associates.”
A police cordon in place after the death in Shipley (Image: Newsquest)
Mr Daniszewski was captured on CCTV footage walking back to the flat carrying some bags.
Walczak was some distance behind him.
It was the last time he was seen alive and, the court heard, the fatal attack upon him began around 90 minutes later.
Mr Daniszewski was described as being “heavily in drink”, as were the others.
He would have been rendered unconscious—and therefore defenceless—through a combination of being struck to the head and the amount he had drunk.
An examination later found he was four times over the legal driving limit.
From around 9.30pm, Roj’s phone called the emergency services 13 times to ask for assistance, including an ambulance to Stead Street, but was unsuccessful.
In his final call, a female voice, said to be Walczak’s, can be heard saying: “Take him as quickly as possible, because things are really bad.”
Roj left after that final call.
Walczak, Chlebek, and Mr Daniszewski remained at the flat.
No further 999 calls were made.
The police and ambulance service were not contacted again until April 22, more than a day later.
But before making that call, Chlebek spoke to a friend and told him Mr Daniszewski was dead in his flat and had been for two days.
He told police: “I’ve only just woken up [after two days] and, gosh, I don’t know what has happened.”
Mr Pitter said footage from CCTV showed Walczak leaving the flat at 6.30am on April 21 “with blood literally on her hands, and also her clothes” before returning shortly after and then going home.
Both Walczak and Chlebek denied knowing what had happened to Mr Daniszewski and woke up to find him dead.
Police who arrived found blood spattered and smeared around the living room and also in the bedroom area.
There was also a broken iron, with blood on it.
Forensic scientists found that there had been some form of interaction between Chlebek and Mr Daniszewski that involved Mr Daniszewski pulling and damaging the collar of a tee-shirt Chlebek was wearing.
Mr Daniszewski’s blood was present on Chlebek’s and Walczak’s clothing which, said Mr Pitter, was consistent with one of them delivering blows whilst the other was close by “or even both of them delivering blows”.
The jury heard that Walczak walked through the dead man’s blood whilst wearing socks and, after attempts were made to clean his face, Mr Daniszewski’s body was carried to where he was later found.
Mr Pitter added: “He must have survived for at least 30 minutes or so—before there was further injury to his brain, which could have been what ultimately caused his heart to stop beating.
“In other words, it could have finished him off.”
The trial continues.