A convicted criminal who admitted killing a middle-aged man he had recently moved in with after twice assaulting the victim before preventing a witness from calling an ambulance has been jailed for 6½ years.
Damian Szatkowski (38) of Peachville, Kilshane, Dublin 11, pleaded guilty last October to the manslaughter of Marcel Kusenda, in Newbridge, Co Kildare, on or about March 8th, 2023. He has 61 previous convictions.
The Director of Public Prosecutions had argued before the Central Criminal Court that the offence lay in the “high culpability zone”, meriting a headline sentence of 10 to 15 years.
The court previously heard that Kusenda (48) was also subject to a sexual assault by a different man not before the court as he lay seriously injured in his room.
Ancient remains discovered in Co Derry bog ‘likely to belong to young woman’ who died violently
Garda fitness requirements relaxed as force struggles to increase numbers
They seek him here. They seek him there. The Wexford Pimpernel James Browne
House prices could increase due to relaxation of garden-room planning rules, say experts
Kusenda was found lying slumped on some furniture wrapped in a blanket with facial injuries at a property in Piercetown, Newbridge, after an ambulance crew was dispatched to the house at about lunchtime on March 8th, 2023.
He was alive but unresponsive and was brought to Naas General Hospital where tests revealed a large subdural hematoma – a blood clot in the brain. Kusenda’s condition deteriorated and he was pronounced dead on March 10th having never regained consciousness.
Sentencing Szatkowski on Monday, Ms Justice Eileen Creedon said this had been a “serious assault” and the defendant’s failure to call for assistance, along with the fact that he had prevented another man from doing so, were aggravating factors in the case.
She noted evidence had been given that the incident involved two episodes of violence, one at around 5pm and another later that same evening when Szatkowski had returned to the house.
The court previously heard that Kusenda – who was originally from Slovakia but had been resident in Ireland for two decades – had been living at the Newbridge house for eight years and Szatkowski, a Polish national, had moved in shortly before the fatal incident.
Gardaí spoke to a witness, Martyn Najder, who was in the property on the evening in question and said Szatkowski became “aggressive” after Kusenda had “patted the hair” of the defendant’s girlfriend. Mr Najder told gardaí Kusenda had been “joking and messing” but there had been a sharp exchange of words and things got “pretty heated”.
The court heard there was some allegation that Kusenda “may have touched” a child “inappropriately”. However, gardaí confirmed no complaint had been made in relation to the incident.
Szatkowski left the house but returned at about 9pm when he entered Kusenda’s room and struck him twice in the face with what was described as “two quick punches to his nose” while the injured party was sitting on the floor.
As Kusenda tried to get up off the ground, Szatkowski then kicked him three more times in the face near the nose, the court heard.
At some point in the evening a third individual, an Irish man, arrived at the house and he and Szatkowski cleared Kusenda’s belongings. Later that night, the Irish man approached the injured party while he was unconscious and inserted a pen into his anus.
A postmortem conducted by State Pathologist Heidi Okkers noted the deceased’s injuries were in keeping with several blows to the head and face and the cause of death was complications of blunt force head injury with no other contributory factors.
The court heard Szatkowski is unemployed and has been living in Ireland for more than 15 years. His previous convictions include those for section 2 assault, criminal damage and possession of offensive weapons.
Imposing sentence today, the judge set a headline sentence of 10 years before reducing this after taking mitigation into account, including Szatkowski’s guilty plea to manslaughter and his letter of apology. She backdated this to when Szatkowski first went into custody in April 2023.
In a victim-impact statement read to the court at a previous sentencing hearing, Kusenda’s son said his father did not deserve to be treated in “such a cruel and brutal way”.
