Heroin addict convicted of killing 100-year-old Holocaust survivor in street robbery Gareth Davies
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/02/13/heroin-addict-convicted-killing-100-year-old-holocaust-survivor/
A heroin addict has been convicted of killing a 100-year-old Holocaust survivor when he broke her neck while trying to steal a handbag. Artur Waszkiewicz, 40, was found guilty of killing widow Zofija Kaczan in the street robbery on May 28 last year.
Jurors took just over two hours to convict Waszkiewicz of both manslaughter and robbery.
Wearing a black velvet jacket and velvet slipper shoes, the defendant showed no emotion and looked straight ahead as the verdicts were delivered.
Judge Nicholas Dean QC adjourned sentence until Thursday morning at the same court.
Addressing the jury, the judge said: “The sentence will inevitably be one of lengthy imprisonment. Mr Waszkiewicz knows that.”
Polish-born Ms Kaczan, who survived a Nazi camp during the Second World War, suffered multiple injuries, including a fractured neck and cheekbone.
She died from pneumonia in hospital on June 6 – a condition brought on by the injuries she sustained in the attack.
A jury of seven men and five women at Derby Crown Court found Waszkiewicz guilty of killing her close to the junction of St Chads Road and Empress Road in Normanton, Derby.
The jury deliberated for just over two hours before unanimously convicting Waszkiewicz of manslaughter and robbery.
He was caught on CCTV driving a Seat Leon car he bought from his father minutes before robbing Ms Kaczan – slowing down as soon as he saw a “small, vulnerable” woman on her own.
Waszkiewicz needed an “easy target” to steal from so he could meet a drug dealer a short time later to buy £20 of heroin.
The force he used ripped the handle off the handbag, inflicting significant bruising on Ms Kaczan’s arm.
Opening the case, prosecutor Kate Brunner QC said: “She was attacked, she was thrown to the ground and her handbag was snatched from her.
“She was small, on her own, vulnerable – an easy target for a man desperate for money.
“He attacked Ms Kaczan, yanking her handbag from her and leaving her injured in the road and driving off.”
Police arrested Waszkiewicz, who was also born in Poland, after his fingerprint was recovered from a receipt in the bag.
He fled the city and hid under a bed at his mother’s house in London to try to avoid arrest.
He drastically altered his appearance by cutting his long hair and changed the insurance details on his car
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