JURY RETIRES IN TRIAL OF FOUR MEN ACCUSED OF MURDERING BIRMINGHAM MAN

A jury has retired to consider its verdicts in the trial of four men accused of murdering Tomasz Samel, a 45-year-old father-of-two, at Birmingham Crown Court. According to the prosecution case, Samel was taken from his home in Raleigh Close, Handsworth, Birmingham, by men claiming to be from Interpol on 27 March 2019 at approximately 8.35am. He was then allegedly tortured, doused in petrol and set ablaze. Samel suffered 75% burns and died in a specialist hospital unit in Liverpool on 21 June 2019, nearly three months after the alleged attack.

The prosecution alleges the attack followed the seizure of 10 million cigarettes worth £1 million by HM Revenue and Customs. According to the trial, Samel was found near Bickerstaffe in Lancashire and sought help by banging on a property door. Neil Jones, Kevin Wooden, Kye Arthur and Tobiasz Kozlowski all deny murder. Jones, Wooden and Arthur have admitted conspiracy to falsely imprison and conspiracy to kidnap. Kozlowski denies all charges relating to kidnap and false imprisonment. Sandra Kozlowska, Tobiasz Kozlowski's wife, denies assisting an offender by helping him to avoid detection.

High Court Judge Mr Justice Wall instructed the jury to take as much time as necessary to reach unanimous verdicts on Wednesday before the panel was sent out to deliberate. The judge stated there was "no pressure of time" and "no right amount of time for a jury to take to reach verdicts". The jury was not sitting on Thursday and will resume deliberations on Friday.