A heroin addict has been found guilty of killing a 100-year-old Nazi camp survivor after he mugged her and left her bleeding in the road.

Artur Waszkiewicz knocked Zofija Kaczan to the floor in the middle of a road in Derby while snatching her handbag on 28 May last year as she made her way to church.

He left the Polish-born widow bleeding, and she suffered multiple injuries, including a fractured neck and cheekbone.

Having survived a Nazi camp during the Second World War, she died from pneumonia on 6 June, which was brought on by the injuries she sustained in the attack.

After deliberating for just over two hours a jury of seven men and five women at Derby Crown Court unanimously convicted Waszkiewicz of manslaughter and robbery.

The 40-year-old self-confessed heroin addict, who was also born in Poland, wore a black velvet jacket and velvet slipper shoes as he looked straight ahead and showed no emotion while the verdicts were delivered.

He was caught on CCTV driving a Seat Leon minutes before robbing Ms Kaczan, slowing down when he saw a “small, vulnerable” woman on her own.

Waszkiewicz was meeting a drug dealer later on to buy £20 of heroin so needed an “easy target” to steal from.

By ripping the handle of Ms Kaczan’s handbag, he badly bruised her arm.

Prosecutor Kate Brunner QC, said: “She was attacked, she was thrown to the ground and her handbag was snatched from her.

“She was small, on her own, vulnerable – an easy target for a man desperate for money.

“He attacked Ms Kaczan, yanking her handbag from her and leaving her injured in the road and driving off.”

Waszkiewicz was arrested after his fingerprint was found on a receipt in her bag.

After the mugging he fled Derby and went to his mother’s house in London where he hid under a bed to avoid arrest.

The jury heard he cut his long hair and changed the insurance details on his car, which he had bought from his father.

He was so desperate for money that he had tried to sell his dog, and asked a neighbour for money.

More follows…

Source: Read Full Article