This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-23522848
The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Daniel Pelka murder: Mother and partner found guilty | Daniel Pelka murder: Mother and partner found guilty |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A mother and her partner have been found guilty of murdering her four-year-old son, who had been beaten and starved. | |
| Daniel Pelka died from a head injury in Coventry in March 2012. | |
| During a nine-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court the emaciated boy was likened by a doctor to that of a concentration camp victim. | During a nine-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court the emaciated boy was likened by a doctor to that of a concentration camp victim. |
| Mother Magdelena Luczak, and her partner, Mariusz Krezolek, had denied the charge. | Mother Magdelena Luczak, and her partner, Mariusz Krezolek, had denied the charge. |
| Both defendants had given a different version of events about what happened and blamed each other. | |
| 'Wretched existence' | |
| The court heard Daniel's head injury was one of 30 he suffered. | |
| Det Insp Chris Hanson, of West Midlands Police, said: "He was beaten, he was drowned, and he was poisoned with salt. | |
| "It was an absolutely wretched existence for him." | |
| The Crown Prosecution Service said starving Daniel had been forced to steal food from other pupils at school and from school dustbins. | |
| During the trial Luczak, who came to the UK in 2006, gave evidence through a Polish interpreter. | |
| She told the court she didn't understand her own behaviour and that her partner had also tried to strangle her as he attacked Daniel in their home. | |
| She said she witnessed two separate assaults on 1 March last year, two days before an ambulance was called for the boy. | |
| Her partner Krezolek told the court Luczak had prevented him calling an ambulance after Daniel fell because she was concerned social services would notice bruises on him. | |
| He said Daniel had lost consciousness while Luczak was getting him ready for a bath. | |
| Daniel's death is the subject of a serious case review by Coventry's Safeguarding Children Board. |