Five foot deep grave found at Greenford Road squat

Three men, who tried to hide a dead body in the garden of their Greenford Road squat, to avoid being kicked out, have today (9/06) been jailed for conspiring to prevent a lawful burial.

One of the men was also found guilty of grievous bodily harm.

Officers attended the Greenford Road address at 12:35hrs on 5 December 2013 after a relative reported concerns that they hadn't heard from Zbigniew Michniewicz, 36 for some time.

Mr Michniewicz (pic above) was a Polish national who had been working as a labourer, but was unemployed at the time of his death. The house in Greenford Road, Southall was a squat used by the victim and the defendants.

When police attended they found Mr Michniewicz's body in a bedroom and a five-foot-deep grave in the back garden.

Mr Michniewicz had been assaulted in his room some three weeks earlier. A post-mortem examination showed that Mr Michniewicz had been repeatedly struck all over his body, including blows to the face, resulting in fractures to his eye-socket, cheekbone and jaw.

Exactly when he got the injuries and time of his death, could not be ascertained, but the pathologist concluded that drug abuse rather than assault injuries were the cause of death.

Six people arrested had not alerted the authorities to the death of Mr Michniewicz, for fear of losing their access to the squat. A five-foot-deep grave had been prepared for the victim in the back garden.

Police say there was clearly a period when they could have called an ambulance or sought medical help for Mr Michniewicz and they did nothing.

A trial began on 19 May at Isleworth Crown Court.

Two men Piotr Juszczak, 21 of no fixed abode, Arkadiusz Majchrazk, 45 of no fixed abode, were found guilty of conspiring to prevent the lawful and decent burial of a dead body without lawful excuse.

Arkadiusz Majchrazak was also found guilty of causing grievous bodily harm to Mr Michniewicz and jailed for nine years.

Juszczak was jailed for two years and nine months.

A third man Grzegorz Roznerski, 40 of The Crescent, Slough had previously pleaded guilty and was jailed for two years and three months.

Kamila Ruszel 18 of Marlborough Road, Southall, was found not guilty of conspiring to prevent the lawful and decent burial of a dead body without lawful excuse.

There was a hung jury on the charges of conspiring to prevent the lawful and decent burial of a dead body without lawful excuse against Damian Gradzuik, 20 of Stanhope Park Road, Greenford and Jakub aka Piotr Bochajczyk 28 of The Crescent, Slough.

Detective Chief Inspector Noel McHugh, of the Homicide & Major Crime Command, said: "The selfishness of this crime is appalling.

"These people believed that alerting the authorities to the death would have caused them to vacate the property in which they were squatting. Their actions are beyond belief - totally self-centered and cruel. They planned to bury the body in the back garden rather than allowing Zbigniew Michniewicz a decent funeral and telling his family the truth about his death.

"Those who failed to plead guilty have shown a complete lack of remorse for the death of one of their compatriots. They have refused to engage with the police and the judicial system, which has been particularly distressing for the victim's family."

DCI McHugh added: "The community has been very supportive and the media have played an important part in encouraging witnesses to come forward. I would like to pay tribute to the bravery and integrity of the witnesses who took gave evidence against these individuals."

His Honour Judge McGregor-Johnson commended the "competent and comprehensive investigation" by officers from the Met's Homicide and Major Crime Command.

6th June 2014