Tomasz Waga murder: Gang intended to teach him a lesson - court
- Published
Tomasz Waga travelled to Cardiff from the Dagenham area
Five gang members who allegedly murdered a 23-year-old man in Cardiff intended to "teach him a lesson" rather than kill him, a court has heard.
Tomasz Waga's body was found with multiple injuries in the Penylan area of the city in January 2021.
A jury heard he was caught by the gang breaking into a property on Newport Road in the Roath area of the city,
Josif Nushi, Mihal Dhana, Gledis Mehalla, Mario Qato and Hysland Aliaj all deny murder.
On Wednesday, the court heard Mr Waga and another man, Carl Davies, were trying to steal a cannabis crop worth £120,000.
Prosecutor Greg Bull KC told the jury: "There wasn't necessarily an intention to kill here, but there was an intention to do really serious harm to teach him a lesson and to get as much information from him as they could so that they and their bosses could take matters up with whoever the bosses were of Mr Waga.
"They in effect kidnapped Mr Waga from Number 319 [Newport Road] and took him off in the Mercedes car."
He said their aim was to interrogate him.
The jury was told that all the defendants except Mario Qato fled to Albania.
The cannabis factory was "well run and well organised", the court heard
Mr Bull said Mr Qato "went to ground in London" where he was later arrested.
When he was arrested, Mr Bull said "he lied and said that he had nothing to do with the crime and that he had not attended 319 Newport Road".
The four other defendants were arrested in Albania and extradited to the UK.
The jury were told forensic evidence showed traces of blood were found at a number of locations associated with the case.
Mr Bull said the jury would be shown telephone records of communication between the defendants.
"It plainly shows how the balloon went up - how the call to arms took place that led to cars being dispatched from various parts of Cardiff to 319 Newport road," he said.
Mr Bull said the prosecution would argue that "each of these defendants disconnected their mobile phones from their telephone providers quickly after the death of Mr Waga".
"They were trying to defeat justice," he said, adding the jury would be shown CCTV footage from various locations around the city.
"Those people weren't going out for a joy rides, they weren't going to get fish and chips, they were going there for a purpose and that purpose was to protect a cannabis warehouse. You will have to determine where the truth is."
The trial continues.
- Published26 October 2022
