Man who buried Huddersfield woman alive gets 20 years in jail for attempted murder

A MAN who kidnapped and buried his fiancee alive in Huddersfield woodland will not walk free again until at least 2032.

And the chilling nature of how he meant her to die has led to the long sentence.

Marcin Kasprzak, 26, of Penistone Road, Fenay Bridge, was found guilty at Leeds Crown Court of attempted murder and has been jailed for a minimum of 20 years.

His friend Patryk Borys, 18, of Rashcliffe Hill Road, Thornton Lodge was sentenced to four-and-a-half years for his part in her kidnapping. He was cleared of attempted murder.

Recorder of Leeds Judge Collier QC told Kasprzak: “The death you intended would have been long and slow. It is mind numbingly awful to imagine the sort of death you intended her to die.’’

Both men, who came from Poland to Huddersfield in 2006, admitted kidnapping at an earlier hearing.

Judge Collier also told Kasprzak: “I am satisfied that this is a case of a planned attempt to kill.”

The court heard during the two week trial last month how Miss Michelina Lewandowska only survived by cutting her way out using her engagement ring and stopping a motorist for help.

Judge Collier told Kasprzak when passing sentence: “I must also have regard to the uniquely chilling nature of this case. Being buried alive must be one of the most dreadful ways to die that anyone can imagine.”

He said earlier in his sentencing: “He didn’t have the courage to kill her directly; the plan was to take and leave her to die.”

The court heard how Kasprzak had become unhappy in his relationship and wanted his girlfriend to leave him and their three-year-old son, Jakup, behind.

“The problem you faced was that she would not go willingly and leave your child with you and your mother,’’ said the judge. “So it was you formed a plan to get rid of her.”

During the trial the court heard how Kasprzak used a Taser to subdue her before she was bound and gagged for some six hours. He then put her in a cardboard box with Borys’ help and drove to Woodsome Road before burying her in the deserted woodland.

They then used Miss Lewandowska’s bank card to withdraw £500 from a cash machine.

Judge Collier continued: “It was your intention that she should not be found and your intention that she would die there.

“Fortunately she escaped. Her raw determination to survive for the sake of your son is undoubtedly what saved her.”

He said the victim had suffered “significant psychological harm” and suffered from nightmares since the ordeal.

In sentencing Borys he told him by way of a Polish interpreter: “I accept that your culpability is less than Marcin Kasprzak’s. It was his idea, he recruited you and the jury’s verdict means that you did not have murder in mind.”

But he said the fact that he helped move the victim to a place of isolation where he abandoned her had assisted Kasprzak and resulted in the victim suffering psychological damage.

He sentenced Borys to four-and-a-half years at a Young Offenders Institute which will be reduced by the 227 days he has already served in custody.