Arkadiusz Jozwik death: Teen found guilty of manslaughter

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Arkadiusz JozwikImage source, Essex Police
Image caption,
Arek Jozwik died two days after an attack in Harlow, Essex

A teenage boy has been found guilty of killing a man with a "superman punch".

A jury at Chelmsford Crown Court convicted the 16-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, of the manslaughter of Arkadiusz Jozwik.

Mr Jozwik, 40, was attacked in Harlow, Essex, on 27 August 2016. He died in hospital two days later.

Rosina Cottage, prosecuting, said the defendant had moved behind Mr Jozwik and used the "whole force of his body" to hit him.

Mr Jozwik hit his head on the ground after being struck by the single punch from the boy.

The defendant, who was in The Stow shopping precinct after going to a kebab shop, said he hit Mr Jozwik "to defend my friend".

Image caption,
The court heard there had been a "disagreement" between three Polish men and a group of teenagers

He said two Polish men, who appeared drunk, were saying "fight me, fight me" and he felt "scared".

Ms Cottage said: "If you didn't like it, you could have scarpered, couldn't you?"

The defendant replied: "Yeah."

Earlier in the trial the court heard Mr Jozwik, from Poland, had been drinking vodka with two friends and had just bought a pizza when he was set upon shortly after 23:30 BST.

Ms Cottage had told the court the men had sat near a group of teenagers.

She said two boys cycled close to the men, which "seemed to spark a disagreement".

The teenager will be sentenced at the same court on 8 September and was granted bail due to a family illness.

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