Mikołaj D. (21) from Świdnica had to face open hatred from his stepfather for four years. Finally, the day came when he couldn’t stand the abuse of him and his mother, grabbed a knife prepared earlier and struck the man 12 times. Then he called an ambulance. The stepfather died, and the boy ended up in the dock on charges of murder. Now he has heard the verdict, which made the courtroom in an uproar.
The tragedy happened in May 2021 in a tenement house at ul. Francuska in Świdnica (Lower Silesia), where the then 19-year-old Mikołaj D. lived with his mother, stepfather and two younger half-siblings. Behind the closed door of the apartment, a family drama was to take place, which the teenager could no longer bear.
Unable to bear the abuse of him and his mother any longer, insults from the bastards and his stepfather’s attempts to get him out of the house, Mikołaj was to take a previously prepared knife and deal 12 blows with it to 45-year-old Sylwester P. The boy then called the police and waited for her arrival.
The man died, and the 19-year-old was charged by the District Prosecutor’s Office in Opole with intentional murder. The investigators disagreed with the defense’s position that Mikołaj acted in self-defence after his stepfather attacked him and an argument broke out between them.
During the trial, the boy confessed to the murder, but all the time he emphasized that he was only defending himself. The District Court in Świdnica, after hearing the witnesses on Tuesday, June 6, issued a verdict in this case. There was an uproar in the hall.
There was an uproar in the court. “Who is the perpetrator and who is the victim?”
As reported by “Gazeta Wyborcza”, Mikołaj D. was sentenced by the court to two years and eight months in prison for the murder of his stepfather and six months for possession of child pornography (because such photos were found on his computer). He will spend a total of three years behind bars.
In the case we were dealing with a confusion of roles and who is the victim, who is the accused, who is the perpetrator and who is the victim
Judge Jerzy Zieliński justified the verdict.
In the next part, as reported by “GW”, he emphasized the loneliness and harm of Mikołaj and the hatred of his stepfather, which the boy had to face for about four years, that is, from the time his mother became involved with Sylwester P.
“Sylwester P. wanted to create a happy home, and because of his stepson he could not”
The prosecutor reminded that Sylwester P. is the victim and he just wanted to create a happy home, and because of his stepson he could not.
Judge Jerzy Zieliński, however, drew attention to the stepfather’s relationship with the previous family, who acted as auxiliary prosecutors of Mikołaj D. He recalled that the man blew up his ex-wife’s house and smashed her head with an axe.
“Meanwhile, Mikołaj D. never started any row,” emphasized the judge. – He ran away when something happened, he took his belt, he spent the night in the forest. He was just bothering his stepfather. He didn’t want him, he wasn’t his son, argued Judge Zieliński quoted by “Gazeta Wyborcza”.
The judge found that the defendant, faced with the escalation of violence, began to prepare for future events. He did not consider that Mikołaj D. acted as a result of self-defence, but he also did not assume that the young man had planned the murder.
“If there were no fights, there would be no murder”
As judge Zieliński emphasized – reported “Gazeta Wyborcza” – giving 12 blows in seven seconds is not obvious and requires mastering the technique of using a knife. Evidence of planning the crime was also Mikołaj’s diary, in which he wrote: “I’m waiting to have an excuse to kill him.”
“He didn’t plan it, he didn’t strive for it, it just happened that he predicted and it happened. If there were no brawls, there would be no murder, the judge argued.
He also explained that the application of extraordinary mitigation of the penalty was necessary, because the minimum penalty for murder under the Code, i.e. eight years in prison, would be disproportionately severe to the crime.
Both sides disagree with the court’s verdict. They are already planning an appeal
Neither the prosecutor’s office, which demanded 13 years in prison for Mikołaj D. (and the lawyer representing Sylwester P.’s previous family, 15 years in prison), nor the defense attorney, disagree with the announced verdict. Both sides have already announced an appeal.
– I cannot agree that there was no self-defense here – Mikołaj D. Marcin Magiera, the lawyer of Mikołaj D., told “Gazeta Wyborcza”. – It is difficult to disagree with the judge’s reasoning, but we will certainly appeal in this matter – he added.
