An evil dad who murdered his toddler son to get revenge towards his former companion for ending their relationship has been jailed for all times.
Lukasz Czapla, 41, shot, stabbed and smothered two-year-old Julius at his house in Muirhouse, Edinburgh, in November 2020 to get again on the little one’s mum Patrycja Szczesniak.
The excessive courtroom within the metropolis heard how Patrycja had break up from Czapla in June that 12 months however was joyful to permit him take care of defenceless Julius.
Nonetheless, on the evening of November 20 2020, she informed Czapla that she was seeing any individual else in a textual content message.
This prompted him to ship her a sequence of weird texts asking her about her new companion and her intercourse life.
The courtroom heard how Patrycja refused to reply to the messages. Callous Czapla, who had spent the night consuming beer, then downed anti depressants with wine.
He then determined to shoot Julius 3 times within the head with a gasoline powered air pistol.
Three ball bearings had been later recovered from his head. He then stabbed the toddler with a steel skewer earlier than smothering him with a pillow leaving Julius mendacity lifeless in his home in Muirhouse, Edinburgh.
The courtroom heard how Patrycja then found her son’s stays the next day. Czapla, who saved portions of thoughts bending LSD on the home on the similar time he was taking care of Julius, then left the property.
The brute drove away, committing highway site visitors offences as he tried to flee.
Czapla claimed he suffered from poor psychological well being on the time he killed Julius and it was so dangerous that it affected his actions and he acted out of character.
His lawyer Iain McSporran QC argued that his consumer’s well being situation was such that he must be convicted of culpable murder and never homicide.
One psychiatrist informed the courtroom that Czapla did have poor psychological well being - however his melancholy wasn’t so dangerous that it made him commit homicide.
He described Czapla’s actions as “narcissistic” and “entitled”. On Wednesday, jurors took three hours to conclude that Czapla was certainly responsible of homicide.
This prompted Decide Lord Beckett to jail Czapla for no less than 23 years.
He will probably be launched as soon as the parole board think about he not poses a menace to public security.
The decide additionally imposed concurrent sentences for highway site visitors and medicines offences. Passing sentence, Lord Beckett mentioned that Czapla’s use of drink and medicines supplied him with “no excuse” for what he did to Julius.
Czapla sat within the dock sporting a surgical masks between two safety officers along with his head bowed because the decide delivered his sentence.
He added : “Your son won't ever develop up and his loving mom has misplaced him ceaselessly and can ceaselessly be haunted by the really evil act that you simply did.
“You acted out of spite to punish his mom for leaving you and getting on together with her life.
“Suffice to say you confirmed appreciable willpower to make sure that a defenceless little one would die in appreciable misery.
“It's no excuse that you simply had been stuffed with drink and medicines certainly it's considerably aggravated given that you simply had been being requested to take care of a two-year-old.”
Throughout proceedings, the courtroom heard Joanne Gorrie,27, say of the second Patrycja found her son’s physique. She mentioned she “screamed” for assist as a result of her former companion “killed” her “child”.
She mentioned that she and Patrycja had gone into Czapla’s home in Muirhouse, Edinburgh, on the morning of November 21 2020.
She informed jurors that Czapla, who got here from the Gdansk space of Poland, had a “little little bit of blood” on his face. She mentioned Ms Patrycja had then seemed right into a room and got here out moments later “screaming”.
Describing the second, the witness informed prosecutor Alan Cameron: “Patrycja began screaming. She began shouting ‘my child, my child, he killed my child. Please assist my child.’
Ms Gorrie mentioned she had thought Czapla had been a superb father and that the trio made for a “good household”.
She mentioned that he had earlier informed her that he had break up from Patrycja.
Describing that second, Ms Gorrie mentioned: “He mentioned ‘she just isn't my spouse. We're not collectively anymore. She is a b***h’.
“We mentioned to him ‘why are you not collectively?’ “He mentioned ‘child trigger issues.”Patrycja that she later drove straight to Czapla’s flat after receiving a textual content message he had despatched her by which he threatened to take his life and Julius’s life.
After knocking on the door she noticed her former companion staggering and bloody after trying via a letterbox.
She mentioned: "After I noticed him lined in blood I began shouting and kicking the door.
"She informed police that when she obtained into the property she requested Czapla the place Julius was and he indicated a bed room.
She mentioned her son was on a mattress within the room.
"His head was lined in blood and his face was blue. I knew he was useless," she mentioned.
She mentioned mentioned she managed to get out the door of the flat and shouted to a neighbour to name the police saying: "He has killed Julius.”
Police feared that Czapla had a psychological well being situation that had left him with diminished accountability. However medical well being professionals began to have doubts about whether or not his psychological well being issues.
Guide psychiatrist Dr Deborah Mountain informed the courtroom how she’d interviewed the accused after Julius misplaced his life.
She mentioned the interview befell while Mr Czapla was in custody at St Leonard’s Police Station.
The accused informed Dr Mountain that he had separated from his companion about six months in the past and he mentioned that the separation was “brutal”.
Dr Mountain mentioned that the accused gave the impression to be extra involved about his personal future than the loss of life of his little one. She mentioned: “He was extra pre-occupied about what was going to occur to him.”
She informed the jury that she concluded there was no proof of him being mentally unwell or having a psychological dysfunction.
Guide forensic psychiatrist Dr Alexander Quinn spoke to Czapla following the loss of life of Julius.
He concluded that Czapla’s actions confirmed that he had carried out a “narcissistic and entitled” act. He concluded that Czapla did have melancholy nevertheless it wasn’t severe.
When Mr Cameron requested Dr Quinn to elucidate why he believed Mr Czapla’s actions had been “narcissistic”, the psychiatrist spoke of textual content messages which the accused had despatched to folks.
He mentioned: “When describing one thing as narcissistic- that was my that means, the textual content messages appeared to return again to his personal experiences.”
Dr Quinn additionally mentioned that he believed Mr Czapla was of excellent sufficient well being to face trial. Detectives additionally managed to search out different proof which confirmed that Czapla’s actions had been deliberate.
His childhood pal Wojciech Marchlewski,41, mentioned that Czapla had “joked” about killing the kid in November 2020. The pair had obtained collectively to have a beer and Mr Marchlewski mentioned he was shocked by what he had heard.
He mentioned: “He joked about killing Julius. He laughed on the finish of it. “I mentioned ‘it’s a particularly dangerous joke’. “I felt so awkward however on the similar time it didn’t shock me as a result of Lukasz used to joke like this.
“I mentioned ‘it’s not humorous. It’s a nasty joke.’
“He acknowledged it saying ‘I do know’."
The courtroom heard on the evening that Julius died, Patrycja had informed him she was seeing any individual new.
This prompted Czapla to ship her 4 textual content messages which contained questions asking her about her newIn his closing speech, Mr Cameron mentioned it was Patrycja’s refusal to have interaction which prompted Czapla to assault Julius.
He mentioned: “The accused despatched 4 separate messages throughout the course of 10 minutes by which he requested her about her intercourse life and with regards to a graphic sexual act.
“Once more, I counsel that what actually set him off that evening, what p***ed him off, what infuriated him to make use of his personal language was her refusal to reply questions on her new companion and their intercourse life - not about her son in any respect.
“All these elements, I counsel level away from the altruistic motive and in direction of the choice put ahead by Dr Quinn - that of revenge and jealousy.
Czapla informed jurors that he assaulted Julius as a result of he had determined to finish his personal life and didn’t wish to depart the kid alone.
Czapla informed the courtroom that he had reduce his personal wrists and shot himself within the chest.
He informed jurors how he additionally additionally took all the remedy which medical doctors had given him for poor psychological well being and drank wine and that he did this as a result of he “didn’t wish to dwell.”
He determined suicide was the one approach choice obtainable to him. The witness was caring for his son, who had been taking part in with Lego within the hours earlier than he died.
The courtroom heard that Mr Czapla then thought of how he found his father’s useless physique when he was a younger boy dwelling in Poland. He mentioned he didn’t need his son to have the identical upsetting expertise.
Mr Czapla began crying as he informed Mr McSporran: “I do know it sounds not very logical however in a way I fully gave up and I didn’t see any level in dwelling.
“I thought of him and I thought of me that I used to be dying and I wouldn’t be there to assist him. “He depends (CORR) upon me a lot. I all the time wished to be right here to supply for him and assist him. I used to be scared.
"I didn’t wish to depart him alone. “I thought of my father. I remembered about my father. I assumed that Julius would uncover me like this and he would have no person to assist him and I assumed I must take him with me.
“At that time my judgement I didn't need him alone in a horrible life.
“I shot him within the head.”
He replied: “Sure.”
Mr McSporran then mentioned: “He was asleep?”His consumer responded: “Sure.”Following conviction, Mr Cameron informed the courtroom that Czapla had one earlier conviction for a highway site visitors matter in 2010.
He additionally informed the courtroom that Patrycja “merely felt unable” to finish a Sufferer Affect Assertion detailing the loss that Julius has had on her life.
Defence advocate Iain McSporran QC informed the courtroom: “He stands convicted of probably the most appalling crime of homicide of his personal younger son.
“A dreadful crime which introduced an finish to the lifetime of that younger boy and has destroyed lives of others.
“For what it’s value that features his personal.”
Lord Beckett thanked jurors for his or her service and excused them from serving on a jury for 10 years.
He additionally provided jurors who could have been traumatised by the proof the chance of receiving counselling.
Lord Beckett added: “These of us who work in these courts and the folks on this trial who've been working in these courts for a few years are accustomed to among the most terrible features of human behaviour.
“However even with the appreciable expertise across the desk on this case, I believe this case maybe exceeds the awfulness of so many different instances that we hear.
“Judges and attorneys are considerably hardened to this. We be taught to compartmentalise our emotions about this stuff - we're human too.
“We don’t prefer it very a lot too women and gents of the jury. We're used to it and now we have methods to take care of it.
“There may be nothing in your lives that would have ready for this expertise and I don’t doubt that it maybe has taken fairly the toll on you listening to such dreadful occurrences such horrible violence inflicted on a younger and defenceless little one for no good causes and for actually dangerous causes it appears.
“I ought to clarify to you that if anybody feels that they may profit from counselling that may be made obtainable to you.
“You might have gone about your activity on this very tough trial in a throughly commendable and admirable approach - I wish to thanks for that.”
Czapla was taken from courtroom to start his new life in jail.
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