Magdelena Luczak and Mariusz Krezolek found guilty of killing boy whose body was likened to concentration camp victim
The mother and stepfather of a four-year-old boy who was battered to death after being subjected to a six-month regime of starvation and physical torture will be jailed for life on Friday after being found guilty of murdering the boy, whose body was so emaciated that one experienced health worker compared it to that of a concentration camp victim.
Jurors took under four hours to unanimously convict Daniel Pelka's mother, Magdelena Luczak, and stepfather, Mariusz Krezolek, following a nine-week trial at Birmingham crown court. A review has been launched to establish why chances to save Daniel were missed before the pair starved and killed him.
Luczak and Krezolek systematically denied the boy meals and force-fed him salt to make him vomit when he was caught sneaking extra food. He was so hungry that he stole sandwiches from other children at school and dug through bins for discarded apple cores.
The couple kept him locked for long periods in a tiny, unheated box room, which he had to use as a toilet, at the family home in Coventry. They ordered him to adopt stress positions used by torturers and to go on endurance runs around the house.
When the pair believed he had misbehaved they threw him into cold baths. His mother once boasted that she had almost drowned him, and his sibling – who cannot be identified – reported once having seen Daniel's head being held under water.
In March last year Daniel died after being hit around the head by one or both adults. His body was laid out on a bed next to his terrified sibling. Luczak and Krezolek waited 33 hours before calling 999.
During the trial it emerged that professionals – including teachers, health workers and police – had a string of contacts with the family and some had raised concerns.
A serious case review is being carried out by the Coventry safeguarding children board. The review has already scrutinised the actions of all the agencies involved with Daniel, and the plan is to publish the findings within six weeks once new information that cropped up during the trial has been taken in.
The review will examine why no action was taken after staff at Daniel's school noticed his thinness, bruising on his neck and what appeared to be two black eyes.
It will also look into contact between doctors and Daniel, who was seen by a community paediatrician and found to be underweight but not "wasted" three weeks before his death.
The review will study the way police and social services approached an incident more than a year before Daniel died when Krezolek broke the boy's arm. The couple, who are Polish nationals, claimed he had fallen off a sofa.
Peter Wanless, chief executive of the NSPCC, said: "Crucial questions need to be asked about how a youngster slipped through the child protection net. The indications that Daniel was suffering for some months should have been plain to see – he was disappearing in front of people's eyes."
Outside court the boy's natural father, Eryk Pelka, said: "It's a great tragedy that such a little angel had to leave this world. I hope that those responsible will be punished severely." He said he felt the authorities could have done more to protect Daniel.
Detective Inspector Christopher Hanson said Luczak, who told teachers that Daniel was so thin because he had an eating disorder, was a convincing liar. He added: "Those with the ultimate duty of care turned Daniel from a beautiful and bright-eyed little boy into a broken bag of bones."
When Daniel's body was examined, experts were shocked. Skin was hanging in folds off his thighs and arms. His tummy was tiny, his rib cage protruding and his spine was clearly visible all the way down his back. His hair was falling out. He weighed one and a half stone, the sort of weight normally associated with an 18-month-old.
One child protection expert who examined the boy said she had seen such emaciation only in pictures of concentration camp victims. A radiologist compared Daniel's frame to that of a seriously ill cancer patient, and a police detective said he looked like a child from a famine-ridden part of Africa.
After the final, fatal attack, a postmortem revealed he died of bleeding and swelling in the brain.
Krezolek, 34, and Luczak, 27, who both drank heavily and took drugs, blamed each other during the trial. Krezolek, a former soldier who worked in car factory, denied killing the boy because he was another man's son.
Both initially claimed Daniel collapsed after suffering chest pains. But detectives discovered texts exchanged between the defendants that hinted at the dreadful regime. One sent by Krezolek said: "Well now he is temporarily unconscious because I nearly drowned him."
Officers also found hand and fingerprints on the inside of the door, which had no handle, as if the child had desperately tried to get out.
Startling testimony came from Daniel's sibling, whose name, age and gender cannot be revealed. The child told police that Krezolek would prevent Daniel from eating and would hit him and put him into cold baths.
Describing the night Daniel died, the sibling said: "I tried to wake him up but I couldn't. Then I tried to listen for his heartbeat but I could not hear anything." Reported by guardian.co.uk 15 hours ago.
The mother and stepfather of a four-year-old boy who was battered to death after being subjected to a six-month regime of starvation and physical torture will be jailed for life on Friday after being found guilty of murdering the boy, whose body was so emaciated that one experienced health worker compared it to that of a concentration camp victim.
Jurors took under four hours to unanimously convict Daniel Pelka's mother, Magdelena Luczak, and stepfather, Mariusz Krezolek, following a nine-week trial at Birmingham crown court. A review has been launched to establish why chances to save Daniel were missed before the pair starved and killed him.
Luczak and Krezolek systematically denied the boy meals and force-fed him salt to make him vomit when he was caught sneaking extra food. He was so hungry that he stole sandwiches from other children at school and dug through bins for discarded apple cores.
The couple kept him locked for long periods in a tiny, unheated box room, which he had to use as a toilet, at the family home in Coventry. They ordered him to adopt stress positions used by torturers and to go on endurance runs around the house.
When the pair believed he had misbehaved they threw him into cold baths. His mother once boasted that she had almost drowned him, and his sibling – who cannot be identified – reported once having seen Daniel's head being held under water.
In March last year Daniel died after being hit around the head by one or both adults. His body was laid out on a bed next to his terrified sibling. Luczak and Krezolek waited 33 hours before calling 999.
During the trial it emerged that professionals – including teachers, health workers and police – had a string of contacts with the family and some had raised concerns.
A serious case review is being carried out by the Coventry safeguarding children board. The review has already scrutinised the actions of all the agencies involved with Daniel, and the plan is to publish the findings within six weeks once new information that cropped up during the trial has been taken in.
The review will examine why no action was taken after staff at Daniel's school noticed his thinness, bruising on his neck and what appeared to be two black eyes.
It will also look into contact between doctors and Daniel, who was seen by a community paediatrician and found to be underweight but not "wasted" three weeks before his death.
The review will study the way police and social services approached an incident more than a year before Daniel died when Krezolek broke the boy's arm. The couple, who are Polish nationals, claimed he had fallen off a sofa.
Peter Wanless, chief executive of the NSPCC, said: "Crucial questions need to be asked about how a youngster slipped through the child protection net. The indications that Daniel was suffering for some months should have been plain to see – he was disappearing in front of people's eyes."
Outside court the boy's natural father, Eryk Pelka, said: "It's a great tragedy that such a little angel had to leave this world. I hope that those responsible will be punished severely." He said he felt the authorities could have done more to protect Daniel.
Detective Inspector Christopher Hanson said Luczak, who told teachers that Daniel was so thin because he had an eating disorder, was a convincing liar. He added: "Those with the ultimate duty of care turned Daniel from a beautiful and bright-eyed little boy into a broken bag of bones."
When Daniel's body was examined, experts were shocked. Skin was hanging in folds off his thighs and arms. His tummy was tiny, his rib cage protruding and his spine was clearly visible all the way down his back. His hair was falling out. He weighed one and a half stone, the sort of weight normally associated with an 18-month-old.
One child protection expert who examined the boy said she had seen such emaciation only in pictures of concentration camp victims. A radiologist compared Daniel's frame to that of a seriously ill cancer patient, and a police detective said he looked like a child from a famine-ridden part of Africa.
After the final, fatal attack, a postmortem revealed he died of bleeding and swelling in the brain.
Krezolek, 34, and Luczak, 27, who both drank heavily and took drugs, blamed each other during the trial. Krezolek, a former soldier who worked in car factory, denied killing the boy because he was another man's son.
Both initially claimed Daniel collapsed after suffering chest pains. But detectives discovered texts exchanged between the defendants that hinted at the dreadful regime. One sent by Krezolek said: "Well now he is temporarily unconscious because I nearly drowned him."
Officers also found hand and fingerprints on the inside of the door, which had no handle, as if the child had desperately tried to get out.
Startling testimony came from Daniel's sibling, whose name, age and gender cannot be revealed. The child told police that Krezolek would prevent Daniel from eating and would hit him and put him into cold baths.
Describing the night Daniel died, the sibling said: "I tried to wake him up but I couldn't. Then I tried to listen for his heartbeat but I could not hear anything." Reported by guardian.co.uk 15 hours ago.