Four men have been convicted for their roles in the kidnap, torture and murder of Birmingham father-of-two Tomasz Samel, who was abducted from his home by men posing as Interpol officers and later set on fire. The gang held the 45-year-old responsible for the loss of illicit cigarettes valued at £1 million when his storage unit in Aston was raided by police.
Following a trial at Birmingham Crown Court, a jury deliberated for just over 11 hours before delivering verdicts on Wednesday, August 12. Tobiasz Kozlowski, 38, from Kirkby in Merseyside, and Neil Jones, 48, of no fixed address, were found guilty of murder and conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm. Kevin Wooden, 46, from Banbury, and Kye Arthur, 35, from Bristol, were cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter. All four men had previously admitted conspiracy to kidnap and falsely imprison.
Abduction and brutal attack
Mr Samel was taken from his home in Raleigh Close, Handsworth, at around 8.40am on 27 March 2019. The men claimed they were executing a European Arrest Warrant issued for Mr Samel, who was originally from Poland. In reality, the organised crime group members were there to 'teach a lesson' to Mr Samel after he was blamed for the loss of the cigarettes.
He was driven in a white Peugeot van to the Merseyside border with Lancashire, where he was tortured and set on fire. Despite suffering 75% burns, Mr Samel managed to bang on the door of a remote property in Lancashire at around 11.10am that day. He told the homeowner about his ordeal and how he had been driven from Birmingham and tortured. Although he was rushed to hospital, he died of his injuries around three months later, on June 21, 2019.
Investigation spanning eight countries
A major investigation by the West Midlands Homicide team established that Mr Samel had been involved in smuggling illicit cigarettes from Poland to the UK. He had a unit in Aston used to store the cigarettes, which was raided by HMRC officers on 22 February 2019. They seized 10 million illicit cigarettes that had been delivered the day before, with a street value of around £1 million. The loss was a huge blow for the criminal enterprise, and Mr Samel was held responsible.
The investigation revealed that Tobiasz Kozlowski and Neil Jones led the plot to kidnap and 'teach a lesson' to Mr Samel. They were key figures in the cigarette smuggling operation and had travelled to Poland to discuss the loss and formulate a plan. Jones later admitted paying the kidnappers £20,000 to take Mr Samel. Kevin Wooden had bought a police-style earpiece from Amazon to pass off as an Interpol officer, along with Kye Arthur, and also acquired the van used to drive Mr Samel to his death.
The investigation took officers to Poland, Greece, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Columbia, France, Scotland and Wales, where the organised gang had operations or fled to in the aftermath of the kidnap.
Justice after more than seven years
Ch Supt Scott Griffiths, who led the investigation, said: “Tomasz would have suffered an unimaginable amount of pain when he was tortured, and his agony continued for the months leading up to his death. The violence that was inflicted on him does not bear thinking about, and those that were willing to do that to another human being are clearly very dangerous individuals.”
He added: “Our investigation has spanned many years and many countries, as we pieced together people’s movements, mobile phone data, CCTV, and other information to build a picture of what happened on that night. I’m pleased that after more than seven years, we have finally been able to get justice for Tomasz and his family, and hope that it will offer some small level of comfort to those who knew and loved him.”
Kate Seal, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “This was a brutal attack on a man who was kidnapped from his own home and subjected to horrendous violence. The CPS worked closely with West Midlands Police throughout this lengthy and complex investigation to pursue lines of enquiry and build a case using forensic, digital and witness evidence. Our thoughts remain with Mr Samel’s family, who have endured unimaginable suffering, including witnessing his abduction from their family home. I hope these verdicts provide some measure of closure and reassurance that justice has been achieved.”
Full list of convictions
- Kye Arthur, 35, of Bristol, was found guilty of manslaughter. He had earlier admitted conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to falsely imprison.
- Neil Jones, 48, of no fixed address, was found guilty of murder.
- Tobiasz Kozlowski, 38, of Kirkby, Merseyside, was found guilty of murder.
- Kevin Wooden, 46, of Banbury, Oxfordshire, was found guilty of manslaughter. He had earlier admitted conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to falsely imprison.
- Sandra Kozlowska, 38, of Kirkby, was found guilty of assisting an offender. She was in touch with her husband, Tobiasz Kozlowski, after he went on the run, deposited money in a bank account for him, and began formulating a cover story with him.
They will be sentenced at a later date.
