Murder trial begins for Holyport man accused of killing ex-wife's boyfriend in their Slough home

A Holyport man accused of killing his ex-wife’s boyfriend at their Slough home is on trial for murder.

Tomasz Kopec was 46 years old when he was badly beaten at his home in Grant Avenue on April 25, sometime after 6am.

He died in hospital two days later after suffering ‘devastating’ brain injuries.

Jakub Nowicki, aged 40 of Ascot Road, was charged with grievous bodily harm the day after the assault – but when Tomasz died, this escalated to a murder charge.

He is also facing an actual bodily harm charge against Karolina Nowicka, 35, who lived at the same address, and a charge of criminal damage. Nowicki denies the charges.

At Nowicki’s trial yesterday (Tuesday, October 28), the prosecution described the events of the morning and the events that led up to it.

The crime scene

At about 6.45am on April 25, police were called to a domestic assault in Grant Avenue. Karolina was found with multiple cuts and swelling on her lips, as well as blood stains on her clothes and legs.

Inside, Tomasz was on the floor surrounded by broken furniture. His face was severely swollen. He was ‘dazed and confused’, police reported, and an ambulance was called to take him to the nearest hospital, Wexham Park.

But the paramedics saw his injuries were too severe and he was rushed to John Radcliffe Hospital instead, to its neuro intensive care unit.

Tomasz’s brain injuries were so serious, doctors determined that there was ‘no prospect’ of his recovering. His life support was switched off on April 27.

The past

The court heard that Nowicki and Karolina, who were married with four children, had a relationship that ‘was difficult at times’.

It worsened when Nowicki was imprisoned for two years for a number of offences in 2022. Karolina said that he began drinking heavily at this time and had ‘changed a lot’ after getting out.

He was then recalled to prison, causing Karolina to say ‘enough was enough’ and the pair separated.

But Nowicki ‘had some difficulty accepting the end of the relationship,’ said prosecutor Lesley Bates KC.

Records show he sent several messages to her which varied from angry and aggressive to reading ‘I love you’ (which were not well-received).

Nowicki’s flatmates in Holyport noticed that he ‘drank heavily’ and was ‘in a drinking spiral’. He got ‘very emotional’ when he spoke of his ex-wife.

Tomasz and Nowicki met twice prior to Tomasz’s death. The second meeting was fractious and ended in a call to the police.

Karolina reported that Nowicki had ‘shouted, grabbed her, called her names, grabbed Tomasz and caused injury to his hand’, but the pair did not pursue legal action against him.

The night before the crime

In the early hours of April 25, phone logs show Nowicki was texting an acquaintance about Karolina, showing she was ‘on his mind’, said Ms Bates.

According to his flatmates, Nowicki went out at about 3am. At a petrol station, he spoke to two strangers who described him as ‘a little strange’ and ‘a little bit drunk.’

He told both of them, separately, that he had killed two people before, the court heard.

The prosecution is not saying that Nowicki has ever killed anyone before the night of the attack – but ‘perhaps that might say something about what was on his mind at the time', said Ms Bates.

The court heard he asked one of the strangers to come home with him. She did not want to, but he said ‘or I might kill you,’ and laughed, she said.

The woman thought she might be safer in a taxi than on the street, so entered a taxi with him, headed towards his home.

However, she found an excuse to pull over and exit the taxi midway through the journey, whereupon she fled. CCTV shows the witness running away from the taxi at speed.

After this, taxi logs show that the requested destination was changed from Nowicki’s address to Grant Avenue.

At about 6.20am, CCTV recorded a man, said to be Nowicki, entering the alley that led to the back entrance of the victims’ house.

After the assault

Shortly after this, the CCTV footage shows a woman leaving the house several times over the course of 5–10 minutes. Each time, the man runs out after her and ‘manhandles’ her back into the house.

Karolina’s neighbours reported that they awoke to the sounds like ‘someone moving furniture’ and a man’s voice shouting.

There was a knock on their front door and they opened it to find Karolina on their doorstep. She said Nowicki had been in the house hitting her and Tomasz.

They noticed she had blood on her mouth and her face was swollen and bruised, said Ms Bates.

The neighbours called the police. Speaking to them, Karolina said Nowicki had forced his way into their home and begun hitting Tomasz. She said she tried to shield Tomasz, to no avail.

Nowicki was soon after tracked down and arrested, whereupon police observed he ‘smelled of alcohol’.  Tests showed historic drug use – metabolised cocaine, which could have been from recent use, or longer ago.

A swab from Karolina’s neck also found DNA from all three people - herself, Nowicki and Tomasz - which Ms Bates said supported Karolina’s account that Nowicki had grabbed her neck.

An autopsy found that Tomasz sustained a ‘profound head injury’ which would have required a ‘sustained high energy assault with heavy force.’

The pathologist believed this was likely caused by a ‘prolonged assault of multiple punches or kicks to the head.’

After Tomasz died in hospital, Nowicki was charged with murder. He made no comment in his police interview, the jury heard.

A statement from Tomasz’ family in April paid tribute to the father and grandfather, who they described as ‘a guiding light whose ‘spirit lives on in the lessons he taught’.

The trial continues.