Man tortured and set on fire to be 'taught lesson'

A man was tortured, doused in petrol and set on fire to be "taught a lesson" after he lost 10 million cigarettes that were worth £1m, a murder trial has heard.

Tomasz Samel was kidnapped in 2019 in Birmingham by three men claiming to be from Interpol, before being driven to the Liverpool area and attacked, prosecutors have alleged.

On Wednesday, Birmingham Crown Court was told the 45-year-old father of two, who was the subject of an international arrest warrant, had then been dumped in a remote location and died in hospital about three months later.

Neil Jones, Kevin Wooden, Kye Arthur and Tobiasz Kozlowski have been accused of Samel's murder, which they deny.

Wooden, 46, of Alma Road, Banbury, Oxfordshire, Arthur, 35, of Copley Gardens, Bristol, Jones, 48, of no fixed address, and Kozlowski, 38, of Crosland Road, Kirkby, Merseyside, also deny conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm.

Jones has pleaded guilty to manslaughter, conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to falsely imprison.

Wooden, Arthur and Kozlowski all deny manslaughter.

Kozlowski further denies conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to falsely imprison.

Jones, Wooden and Arthur have admitted conspiracy to falsely imprison and conspiracy to kidnap.

Kozlowski's wife Sandra Kozlowska, 38, and also of Crosland Road, Kirkby, has denied assisting an offender by helping him avoid detection with intent to impede his apprehension or prosecution.

Opening the Crown's case, prosecutor Harpreet Sandhu KC said Samel was kidnapped from his home in Raleigh Close, Handsworth, at about 08:35 GMT on 27 March 2019.

Sandhu said: "After he was kidnapped, he was falsely imprisoned – he was placed in a white Peugeot Boxer van and he was driven to Merseyside.

"In Merseyside he was tortured and he was caused really serious harm. As part of that torture his body was set on fire.

"After he was subjected to that torture, his body is likely to have been dumped in a remote rural location. Miraculously he was able to walk to the home of strangers who saw the state he was in and who called for an ambulance."

Samel was taken to hospital, jurors were told, but he died on 21 June 2019 as a result of his injuries.

Alleging that Wooden and Arthur were two of three men who went to Raleigh Close in the van, Sandhu added: "The conspiracy to kidnap, falsely imprison and cause really serious harm existed to teach Tomasz Samel a lesson.

"Tomasz Samel was not an angel but he did not deserve to be tortured and to be killed.

"Tomasz Samel was involved in organised crime. In 2011, a European arrest warrant had been issued in respect of him in Poland. He was wanted and his extradition was sought."

Jones and Kozlowski are alleged by the Crown to have been present when Samel was tortured and set on fire, while Wooden and Arthur were "recruited" to become part of the planning," Sandhu told the court.

The court was also told that Samel's death was linked to the seizure of illicit and counterfeit cigarettes which had been smuggled into the UK from Poland.

The trial continues.

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