Polish gang jailed for a total of 64 years after 'savage' attack on university lecturer

A gang of four Polish burglars who took part in a robbery that left a university professor ‘savagely’ beaten have been jailed.

Paul Kohler, 55, suffered a fractured eye socket, a fracture to his left jawbone, a broken nose and bruising that left him ‘utterly unrecognisable’ during the attack at his home in Wimbledon, south London.

Pawel Honc, 24, of no fixed address, and Mariusz Tomaszewski, 32, of Crusoe Road, Mitcham, south London, were both sentenced at Kingston Crown Court to 19 years after admitting grievous bodily harm with intent and aggravated burglary.


Oskar Pawlowicz, 30, of Pitcairn Road in Mitcham, and Dawid Tychon, 29, of no fixed address, were both sentenced to 13 years after they pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary.

(Left to right) Pawel Honc, Oskar Pawlowicz, Mariusz Tomaszewski and Dawid Tychon

Sentencing the men, Judge Susan Tapping said they had targeted Mr Kohler’s house either because they had the expectation of finding items of ‘significant value’ to steal or because they chose the wrong address to collect a debt.

Paul Kohler stands with his family, (left to right) wife Samantha and daughters Saskia, Eloise and Beth, outside Kingston Crown Court

Mr Kohler, who was flanked by his wife Samantha MacArthur, 50, and three of his four daughters – Eloise, Beth and Saskia – held his jaw and watched the men intently as they were given their sentence.

He hugged his daughters and wife and smiled afterwards.