Young mum ‘buried alive in cardboard box by bored, Taser-wielding lover’

A “terrified” Michelina Lewandowska, 27, was taken to the countryside where she was buried in shallow grave and a large branch was placed on top of the box, Leeds Crown Court was told.

The jury was told that Miss Lewandowska managed to escape from the box and raised the alarm by flagging down a passing car.

Her partner, Marcin Kasprzak, with whom she has a three-year-old son, is on trial with another man, Patryk Borys, charged with attempted murder.

Both men, who are Polish, deny the charge.

Prosecuting, Jonathan Sharp said: “In a nutshell, this case is about a young man who got bored with his partner, the mother of his child, and he decided to get rid of her.”

The barrister said the victim was attacked with a Taser, bound and gagged with tape and “imprisoned” in a box.

He added: “He and his friend imprisoned her in a box, drove her to a wooded area where it was unlikely she would be found, and there dug a shallow grave and buried her alive.”

The jury heard that 25-year-old Kasprzak told his partner that she was not as good-looking as the girls he saw at the gym.

The court was told that he would go out with friends, sometimes staying out all night, rather than spending time with her.

He was thinking about starting a relationship with another woman and had changed his Facebook status to single, the prosecutor said.

He said the couple did have a good relationship, but things started to change when she became pregnant. Their first child, Jakub, was born in 2008.

The jury was told that “one way or another, Michelina should be got out of the way” and Jakub would be left with Kasprzak and the defendant’s mother.

“And that idea developed into him thinking that the only way of getting rid of her was to kill her,” Mr Sharp added.

He said things came to a head in May this year when Kasprzak used a 300,000-volt Taser on his partner and recruited his friend Borys, 18, to help.

He said: “It is right to say the stun gun did not have the effect it was advertised. Michelina was not paralysed.

“But nevertheless, as you can perhaps imagine, she was terrified and she agreed to do whatever he wanted. She said that yes, she would go, yes, she would leave Jakub with him and his mother.”

He said she was put in a computer box and it was taped up securely. Two holes were left to allow air in.

He said the defendants dug a hole big enough to take the box in countryside near Huddersfield.

He added: “They carried Michelina, sealed in the box, up the hill, placed her in the hole, and then piled earth both around and on top of the box. They found a large branch, weighing some 40kg (88lb) and placed it across the box.”

He added: “When they put Michelina, who was not making a sound, in a shallow grave and put earth around and on top of her, they intended to kill her. But by great good fortune, they failed to kill her.

“Michelina was not unconscious and she was able to, with great difficulty, get herself out of the box and the earth covering and surrounding it.”

The court was told that Kasprzak and Miss Lewandowska lived in Penistone Road, Huddersfield, and they formed part of the Polish community.

The trial was adjourned until tomorrow.