JANIK: HOSPITAL PORTER MURDER PAL IN FOOTBALL ROW
A hospital worker strangled his best friend after a drunken row about the Champions League final between Chelsea and Bayern Munich, a court heard.
Daniel Janik, 30, became upset when Przemyslaw Lepkowski, 24, began loudly celebrating the English club’s victory, it is claimed.
Both men were seen ‘pushing and shoving’ each other before leaving the house where they had been watching the match on TV.
At 1am the next morning Mr Lepkowski was found unconscious in the driveway in Eastbourne Road, Tooting, south London. He died the following day, on May 21 this year.
Prosecutor Sarah Plaschkes QC told jurors: ‘This case concerns the death of a young Polish man, killed by the defendant, his best friend.
‘The two of them became very drunk while watching a game of football. It was a tragic, futile and drunken death.’
The Old Bailey heard both men were Polish and worked together at St George’s hospital in Tooting. Mr Lepkowski was a cleaner.
On May 19 Janik invited his colleague round to his home to watch the match and drink whisky.
Housemate Jan Dudek said: ‘They were arguing between themselves, pushing and shoving each other.
‘They were arguing about the match. They were supporting different sides. I think that they both loved football, that’s why each of them had their own strong convictions.’
He claimed the pushing and shoving started after Mr Lepkowski began cheering the result of the match.
The row briefly stopped when they ran out of alcohol and Mr Dudek bought some more from the shop.
Some time after 11pm another housemate told Mr Lepkowski to leave ‘because he was being aggressive,’ said Mr Dudek.
‘I saw him leaving and Daniel went after him. They both left out the front door.’
A postmortem found Mr Lepkowski died of lack of oxygen to the brain.
Miss Plaschkes told the jury Janik admits responsibility for the death of his friend.
She said: ‘There is no dispute in this case that the defendant killed Mr Lepkowski.
‘If he killed him intending to cause him really serious bodily harm then he is guilty of murder.
‘If he did not intend to cause him really serious bodily harm then it is the alternative of manslaughter.’
Janik, of [4] Eastbourne Road, Tooting, denies both murder and manslaughter.
The trial continues.
