Tomasz Dembler death: Family say he struggled with drink and drugs

Polish national Tomasz Dembler was said to have "led an increasingly troubled life"

A man whose mutilated body was found buried in a park was struggling with drink, drugs and money, a murder trial has heard.

Tomasz Dembler's remains were found in Middlesbrough's Flatts Lane Country Park weeks after he went missing.

Friends and family said he had been "drinking to excess" and using and selling illegal drugs in the months before his death, Teesside Crown Court heard.

Four men and a woman deny his murder.

The 39-year-old Polish national moved to the UK in 2002 and was initially based in London before moving to Darlington and Middlesbrough in 2019, the court heard.

His body was found in April 2021 with his hands cut off.

'Private person'

Prosecutor Peter Makepeace QC said Mr Dembler's lifestyle had "deteriorated" and he had "alienated himself" from extended family living in the UK who believed he had developed "mental health issues".

He said there was evidence Mr Dembler had been "drinking to excess" and taking drugs including cocaine and amphetamines before becoming "involved in the supply of illicit drugs".

A taxi driver who befriended Mr Dembler in December 2020 said he was a "private person" but after moving from Darlington to Middlesbrough in February 2021 he "changed".

In a statement read to the court, Lukas Modrzejerwski said Mr Dembler "never had any money", was "often drunk" and had admitted he "sold weed".

He said Mr Dembler would ask Mr Modrzejerwski to drive him around Middlesbrough for several hours at a time while Mr Dembler sat on the back seat drinking vodka.

On one occasion Mr Dembler asked his friend to take him to woods where he climbed trees and drank, the court heard.

On 20 March 2021, Mr Modrzejerwski took Mr Dembler to get a takeaway.

He said he last saw his friend at about 21:35 GMT walking towards the home he had moved into earlier that day on Edward Street in Middlesbrough, where one of the accused, Adam Czerwinski, lived.

The five people who deny his murder are:

• Zbigniew Pawlowski, 41, of Leven Street, Middlesbrough

• Rafal Chmielewski, 37, of Birchington Avenue, Grangetown

• Tomasz Reczycki, 37, of Ashfield Avenue, Middlesbrough

• Monika Solerska, 37, of Birchington Avenue, Grangetown, and

• Adam Czerwinski, 45, of Edward Street, Middlesbrough

Jurors have heard Mr Dembler was killed at the house before being buried in the park, but there was a lack of forensic evidence at the alleged crime scene as the carpet had been changed as part of a "meticulous" clean up.

The trial continues.