A suicidal man grabbed an innocent woman on a Tube platform and tried to drag her in front of a train with him. Arthur Hawrylewicz from Cardiff grabbed his victim from behind in a powerful "bear hug" and "swung" her towards to the oncoming underground train in the shocking indecent. It was only the quick actions of the victim's friends which saved her from being thrown onto the tracks.
Inner London Crown Court heard builder Hawrylewicz – who was in London to work with a friend – was drunk, depressed, and suicidal but cannot explain why he grabbed the young woman on the busy underground platform. Sukwinder Dhada, prosecuting, said on August 22 last year pharmacist Maria Osifeso travelled from her home in Stanmore to central London go to the Notting Hill Carnival.
At just after 1.15pm she was with friends on platform one of King's Cross underground station when she was approached by a man she did not know – the defendant Hawrylewicz. The defendant began talking to Miss Osifeso but she had trouble understanding him and asked him to go away. Hawrylewicz responded by staring at Miss Osifeso, which made her feel uncomfortable.
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The court heard that moments later, as a train approached the station and passengers began moving towards the edge of the platform, the defendant approached Miss Osifeso from behind and grabbed her in a "very firm bear hug". He then picked her up off her feet and "swung" her towards the tracks. Miss Osifeso's friends began shouting at Hawrylewicz and grabbed the assailant and Miss Osifeso. In the struggle which ensued Miss Osifeso was able to get free and the defendant was taken to the ground where he was kicked. The prosecutor said Hawrylewicz was laying on his front on the platform and then in a "belly-flop, fish-like movement" he moved towards the edge of platform where his head was struck by four consecutive carriages and he was rendered unconscious.
British Transport Police officers were on the scene within minutes and found 42-year-old Hawrylewicz being tended to by first-aiders. The defendant regained consciousness after 10 minutes and was found to be in a "dazed "state and smelling strongly of alcohol. He was escorted from the station and arrested and initially taken to hospital before being interviewed the following day. In his interview Hawrylewicz said he had been working with a friend in London but on the day in question was planning to travel back to Cardiff and was heading to Victoria bus station to buy a ticket. He said he had drunk three or four Polish beers and a third of a litre of vodka which he had bought "for the road" but was in no hurry to get to Victoria and was bored. Hawrylewicz told officers he had a "flash" of suicidal thoughts which lasted a few seconds before going but he could not remember speaking to or grabbing his victim and "simply wanted to get back to Cardiff".
The court heard in fact Hawrylewicz had sent a series of messages to his partner on the morning in question expressing suicidal thoughts and had recorded a video on his phone during which the father-of-two said goodbye to his partner. The defendant, who has worked as a builder since moving to the UK from Poland in 2015, was breath tested and a back calculation of his likely level of alcohol at the time of the incident showed it would have been just under 300mg of alcohol per litre of blood. The drink-drive limit is 80mg.
In a victim impact statement which was read to the court Miss Osifeso described the "profound and long-lasting" affects of the incident. She said she had to take time of work and suffers from "almost overwhelming anxiety" when using the Tube and is "hyper-aware" of her surroundings. Miss Osifeso said she continues to think about "what if?" and said it was "incredibly traumatic to think about how close I had come to dying" that day.
Arthur Hawrylewicz, of Avondale Gardens, Cardiff, had previously pleaded guilty to attempted murder when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has no previous convictions in the UK or in Poland.
Alexia Nicol, for Hawrylewicz, said the defendant was in a "confused and desperate" state at the time of the incident and she described the combination of his emotional state, his intake of alcohol, and the busy Tube platform as "the perfect storm". She said her client struggles to understand how the incident happened but takes responsibility for his actions and regrets what he did "every single day" for the impact it had on Miss Osifeso and on his partner and two young children.
Judge Benedict Kelleher told Hawrylewicz he had attempted to kill a young woman who was a stranger to him by throwing her in front of a moving train and it was only the fast reactions of Miss Osifeso's friends which had stopped him. He said it was clear from the evidence in the case that the defendant had intended to kill himself in the the "shocking" incident and he noted Hawrylewicz was still not able to explain why he had tried to kill an innocent stranger.
The judge said the appropriate sentence after trial would have been one of 11 and a half years in prison. With a discount for his guilty plea, which was entered on the first day of his trial, Hawrylewicz, was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He will serve up to two-thirds of that sentence before being released on licence to serve the remainder in the community
For confidential support the Samaritans can be contacted for free around the clock 365 days a year on 116 123.
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