Boston ditch body murder accused Kamil Zydek faces retrial

Marcin Stolarek's body was found in a pumping station by a service engineer in January 2020

A man accused of murder after the killing of a Polish national whose body was found in a drainage channel in Lincolnshire faces a retrial.

Kamil Zydek, 34, had denied murdering Marcin Stolarek whose body was found in South Forty-Foot Drain in Boston in January 2020.

A jury at Lincoln Crown Court failed to reach a verdict after deliberating for more than 17 hours.

Zydek was found guilty of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

Two other men have already been jailed for life after being convicted of murder last year.

Lukasz Ferenc was sentenced to a minimum of 22 years and Adam Kaminski to at least 19 years.

Lukasz Ferenc, 29, and Adam Kaminski, 28, were jailed for life

The court heard Mr Stolarek had been repeatedly beaten before being put in the boot of a car and driven to a secluded location near a pumping station and then thrown in the water during the early hours of 28 November, 2019.

Prosecutor Gordon Aspden KC said Zydek's role was to plan and organise the killing and also the disposal of the body.

The court heard Mr Stolarek had been put in the boot of a Vauxhall Astra car driven by Artur Klosowski, with Ferenc and Zydek helping to dispose of his dead or dying body.

However, Zydek told the jury he had asked for Mr Stolarek to be taken to hospital and had remained in the car when the victim was thrown in the water.

"I said to Artur to go to a hospital, but Lukasz disagreed," Zydek told the court.

The trial previously heard that Zydek, who left the UK once a police investigation started, had refused to reveal the motive, but there was evidence it arose out of drugs or drugs money.

Judge Simon Hirst told Zydek: "The jury have found you guilty of perverting the course of justice. They could not decide on the count of murder. The prosecution wish to have a retrial."

Zydek is due to be sentenced on the second charge at the end of the retrial, which is expected to be heard next year.