In March 2019, the criminal group believing that the victim was responsible for the loss of a large illegal cigarette shipment, abducted the victim from his home in the UK. To carry out the kidnapping, the perpetrators posed as Interpol officers executing a European Arrest Warrant, enabling them to gain control of the victim before taking him to a separate location.

He was then subjected to a sustained violent assault before being abandoned. The victim was able to reach a property nearby and get medical treatment, but died from his injuries two months later.

After the assault, two of the members fled the UK and were traced to Greece and the Dominican Republic. Prosecutors from the UK worked together with their counterparts from both countries to extradite the members ahead of their trials.

Given the case’s links to Poland, the UK and Polish authorities needed to work closely together. With support from Eurojust, a Joint Investigation Team was established, allowing investigators and prosecutors to coordinate their efforts, share evidence and pursue lines of enquiry across borders.

Following the trial in August 2026, the members of the criminal group were sentenced on Friday 7 October. Two individuals were convicted for carrying out the kidnapping and murder and received life sentences, with minimum terms of over 30 years. Two further individuals were sentenced for kidnapping and manslaughter and sentenced to more than 20 years of imprisonment. The wife of one of the members was also convicted of assisting an offender, by helping her husband evade justice, moving money, hiding evidence and giving false information. She received a three-year suspended prison sentence.

The actions were carried out by the following authorities:

• United Kingdom: Crown Prosecution Service, West Midlands Police
• Poland: The Circuit Prosecutor’s Office in Krakow; Department for Combating Organized Criminal Crime of the Cracow Board of the Central Bureau of Investigation of the Police