Courts / Ireland / Report

Homeless man left paralysed during fatal attack, trial hears

Summary

In a murder trial on 8 July 2016, the court heard that 38‑year‑old Andrzej Wawrzyniak, a homeless Polish man with no fixed address, was accused of stabbing 44‑year‑old Jacek Kozakiewicz to death at an abandoned pub on Dublin's North Wall Quay on 26 February 2014. Wawrzyniak pleaded not guilty to the murder charge but pleaded guilty to a second count of assault causing harm to Filip Talaj, who was also present. State Pathologist Professor Marie Cassidy identified 23 stab wounds on Kozakiewicz, including 20 to the head and neck, one of which severed his spinal cord, leaving him paralysed on the left side and unable to feel his right side. Two major neck vessels were also severed, causing fatal bleeding. The trial, presided over by Justice Robert Eagar, continues with a jury of nine men and three women. The case also involves a separate assault on Talaj, who sustained multiple knife wounds but survived.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Homeless man left paralysed during fatal attack, trial hears. Charges or matters: murdering Jacek Kozakiewicz (44), at a derelict pub on Dublin's North Wall Quay on February 26, 2014; a second count of assault causing harm to Filip Talaj at the same place on the same date. Procedural stage: trial

When:

• February 26, 2014 Incident
• 2016-07-08 Publication

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Pubs And Nightclubs Stage Trial Violent Crime

Read the original CNI report