Dariusz Michalowski: Alleged killer escaped crime scene in police car

Dariusz Michalowski disappeared from his home in Huddersfield in March 2011

An alleged killer was given a "police chauffeur" away from the spot where he is said to to have hidden his victim's body, a court heard.

Prosecutors say Ernest Weber, 45, was found by officers in a remote woodland near Halifax after burying Dariusz Michalowski nearby in 2011.

Mr Weber claimed he and two other men he was with had been looking for vodka in the area before the police drove all three to Halifax railway station.

He denies murdering Mr Michalowski.

Mr Weber is on trial at Leeds Crown Court alongside Adam Tolwinski, 39, for the murder of 44-year-old Mr Michalowski, who they are alleged to have tortured and stabbed to death at his Huddersfield home on 13 March 2011.

After the killing, the two defendants and two other men travelled in Mr Weber's Audi to woodland near Mixenden reservoir at about midnight to bury the body, the court heard.

The court heard Mr Weber had also taken a can of fuel, which he told one of the men, Pawel Szudy, he planned to use to burn the body if they were unable to bury it.

Mr Michalowski's remains were not found until nine years later.

Dariusz Michalowski's body was buried in woodland near Mixenden reservoir in Halifax

The court heard the group were spotted in the woodland by the residents of a nearby cottage who became suspicious and called 999.

Six West Yorkshire Police officers attended and found Mr Weber's Audi, which Mr Tolwinski had left in a secluded area of farmland before hiding, the court heard.

The officers then encountered and searched Mr Weber, Mr Szudy and another man, who claimed they were in the area to find vodka, the jury heard.

Police did not link the men to the Audi, despite them telling the officers their real names and a computer check establishing the Audi's owner was called Ernest Weber.

Prosecutor Richard Horwell KC told the court: "It might be thought that remote woodland was an absurd place then to be either to find or drink vodka.

"The three men had no apparent means of transport, they were wearing t-shirts, it was a cold March night, and in any event none of the men actually had any vodka with them to drink.

"But because they had not been connected to the Audi or to any offence, they were not just permitted to go, but were assisted in doing so. The police wanted them away from the cottage and so drove them to Halifax train station.

"A police chauffer service is perhaps the very last result these men expected, but that is what they received."

'Lucky escape'

The trial heard the cottage's residents had also told police in their 999 call about finding the fuel can, which the men had discarded.

"But somehow the connection between the can and the three men was not made by those police officers at the scene," said Mr Horwell.

"This was, you may think, a very lucky escape."

Mr Michalowski, a former Polish police officer who had a wife and daughter in his homeland, was reported missing two days after his death.

Police launched a murder investigation but his remains were not found until Mr Szudy had a "change of conscience" and led detectives to his grave, the trial has heard.

Mr Szudy worked alongside Mr Michalowski and the defendants at a car maintenance garage. He told police the defendants had been angry Mr Michalowski did not "keep his mouth shut" about them dismantling a stolen car to sell for parts.

Mr Weber and Mr Tolwinski, both of no fixed address, deny murder, perverting the course of justice and preventing a legal burial.

They are on trial alongside Mr Weber's brother Piotr Weber, 42, who is accused of helping to cover up the crime. He has pleaded not guilty to perverting the course of justice and preventing a legal burial.

Mr Szudy is not accused of killing Mr Michalowski but has admitted helping to dispose of his body and was granted immunity from prosecution in return for giving evidence.

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