Body of badly beaten Pole found in disused office block

Three scrap metal thieves beat a fellow scavenger to death after complaining he had failed to share out their spoils fairly, a court heard today (Thursday).

Marcin Porczek was left covered in injuries after being attacked with such ferocity that he suffered brain damage during the ‘brutal’ assault in Stonebridge Park.

The Old Bailey heard the former plumber’s body was found under a blanket on the second floor of the disused ‘Unisys’ building at the junction between Harrow Road and the North Circular on December 14, 2010.

The 37-year-old was allegedly murdered by fellow Poles Piotr Kulik, 30, Krysztof Szafisz, 34, and Andrzej Mikolajek, 54, after pocketing most of the �105 he had earlier made selling scrap.

Jurors were told the second and sixth floors of the building were occupied by a number of alcoholic Polish men, several of whom stripped metal from it to sell for scrap.

Bobbie Cheema, prosecuting, said the three were guilty of a ‘ferocious and merciless’ attack on their victim.

She said: “There is no evidence that Mr Porczek himself was aggressive to anyone, or that he had assaulted or attacked anyone - no defendants sustained any injury attributable to him.

“By contrast, the victim was so badly injured that he sustained brain damage, nearly every one of his ribs was broken, and his chest was crushed by stamping and kicking.

“It was a terrible way for an entirely innocent man to lose his life.”

Police, who mounted a murder inquiry following a call from fellow squatter Robert Danielewicz, tracked the trio down to another squat in Wembley, where all three were arrested.

Forensic tests showed that all three men had Mr Porczek’s blood on their clothing and shoes.

Kulik, Szafisc, and Mikolajek, all of no fixed address, deny murder.

The trial continues.