Organised-crime leaders receive life terms for torture and arson over £1 million of cigarettes
Two gang organisers were sentenced to life imprisonment for kidnapping, torturing and setting fire to Tomasz Samel in retaliation for missing cigarettes worth £1 million.
A Birmingham Crown Court jury convicted Neil Jones and Tobiasz Kozlowski of murder and conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm after they orchestrated the kidnapping and fatal burning of Tomasz Samel, a father of two. Samel was seized from his Handsworth home in March 2019 by men posing as Interpol officers, driven to the Liverpool region and doused with petrol as punishment for the disappearance of counterfeit cigarettes valued at £1 million.
He survived the initial attack but died three months later in Whiston Hospital. Co-defendants Kevin Wooden and Kye Arthur were found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 23 and 22 years respectively, while Sandra Kozlowska received a three-year suspended term for assisting her husband. The court highlighted the extensive cross-border investigation involving Poland, Greece, the Dominican Republic and other nations, crediting cooperation with Eurojust and the Crown Prosecution Service.
Why it matters
The case shows how international cooperation can bring high-level organised-crime figures to justice.
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