A mother and her partner who murdered her 15-year-old son after torturing him have been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 39 years each.
Sebastian Kalinowski had been beaten with a bed slat, whipped with an extension cable, and stabbed with a needle by Agnieszka Kalinowska and her long-term partner Andrzej Latoszewski.
In August of last year, he died of an infection caused by “untreated complications of multiple rib fractures” at his home in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.
Mrs. Justice Lambert referred to Latoszewsk as a bully during his sentencing, saying, “Like all bullies, unable to maintain respect in another way, you sought to intimidate Sebastian who was weaker than you, and in Sebastian you found a way.”
“CCTV footage shows you flying into a rage, pacing the room, with a grimace on your face as you scream at Sebastian.”
She added that Sebastian’s mum simply “did not care about him” and she was “only interested in herself”.
The judge stated that in a letter to Latoszewski, Kalinowska wrote about herself “and your continued love for him.”
“You told him you would marry him. Your only real worry about what had happened to your cat after your arrest.
“In this very long letter there was not one word about your son Sebastian, his death and the loss of his life.”
A jury at Leeds Crown Court had previously heard that after the couple was arrested in connection with Sebastian’s death, police seized CCTV cameras from their home, which prosecutors said were installed partly to “monitor and exert remote control over Sebastian.”
Agnieszka Kalinowska, 35, and Andrezej Latoszewski, 38, initially denied murdering Sebastian but were found guilty in July at Leeds Crown Court.
Jurors had previously been shown ‘horrifying’ CCTV footage from the couple’s home, which showed numerous instances of Sebastian being punched, kicked, and stamped on.
In one video, he was shown being whipped with a cable.
Jason Pitter QC, prosecuting, previously told the court Sebastian suffered “weeks, if not months of terrible, cruel, systematic assaults and ill treatment, neglect and abuse”.
Sebastian had been in England for less than a year after moving from Poland, where he lived with his biological father, according to the court.
His heartbroken father confronted his child’s killers in court, branding them “ruthless monsters devoid of human feeling.”
Sebastian’s father, Jacek Kalinowski, said his entire world collapsed around him when he learned of his son’s death.
Mr Kalinowski said in a statement read in court, “You turned every day in his life into a nightmare and committed monstrosities that are truly mind-boggling.”
“I will never comprehend how much hatred it takes to do such thing. The question is why? Why did you hate him to such a degree you let that psychopath treat him like that?
“How could you let your child be harmed? You took everything from him – his dignity and life.”
He added: “The news of his death made part of me die with him. The wound you’ve inflicted will never heal and the pain will never go away.
“The knowledge his life was taken in such a brutal way is such a blow for me and my family. Nothing is ever going to be the same ever again and it is not the truth that time heals all wounds.
“Time has one purpose, and that is to accustom yourself to the pain.”
Mr Kalinowski said the nightmare of his son’s treatment “comes to haunt me every single day”. He said he loved Sebastian but that he “could not protect him from evil – evil inflicted by his own mother.”
The court heard that Sebastian attended North Huddersfield Trust school and was described as a “model pupil.”
His mother and stepfather, on the other hand, claimed he needed to be punished for lying and skipping school.
During today’s sentencing, the judge stated that footage from the day of his death, August 13, shows Sebastian “moving like a very old man” before being assaulted by his mother and dragged away by Latoszewski.
“When next seen on CCTV he is unconscious with no apparent signs of life.” the judge said.
“By no later than 8.40pm it must have been obvious to you both Sebastian was either dead or dying.
“You Latoszewski gave chest compressions, you Kalinowska do nothing except go downstairs, check the curtain is closed, take a drink from a mug.
“At 9.26pm, the system is switched off and the cables ripped from the wall. You Latoszewski ring your work and say you had ‘big problems.’
“You were both arrested.”
The judge added: “Anyone has watched even part of the CCTV footage can only be utterly horrified by what they saw and bewildered why anyone would behave this way to a teenage boy.
“It begs the question why anyone would behave in this way – this is a question I have myself.”
source:nsemwokrom.com