Cruel mother and stepdad who murdered son, 15, after brutal campaign of torture jailed for life
3 November 2022, 15:32 | Updated: 3 November 2022, 16:18
A mother and stepfather have been jailed for life for the murder of 15-year-old Sebastian Kalinowski.
Sebastian Kalinowski was beaten with a bed slat, whipped with an extension cable and forced to carry out "humiliating" exercise drills in what prosecutors said amounted to "torture".
He died last in August last year of an infection caused by "untreated complications of multiple rib fractures" after weeks of "cruel assaults and abuse" at the hands of his mother Agnieszka Kalinowska, 36, and her partner Andrzej Latoszewski.
Kalinowska was described as the "greatest evil to walk the Earth" by Sebastian's father.
Leeds Crown Court heard the abuse by the couple was captured on CCTV cameras they had installed to "monitor Sebastian remotely" at their house in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.
Jurors have heard the footage, seized from the house after Sebastian's death, shows him "being attacked, principally and most severely by Latoszewski but with his mother being involved at various times".
On Thursday, the both Kalinowska and Latoszewski were jailed for life and given a minimum of 39 years behind bars.
Read more: Mum accused of torturing son to death with partner sobs as she tells jury 'I failed as a mother'
The boy’s father Jacek Kalinowski watched proceedings by video link from Poland.
In a statement read to the court, he called Kalinowska "the greatest evil that walks this Earth" and added: "In a cruel and heartless way you have taken the life of my son. You turned every day of Sebastian's life into a nightmare.
"Why did you hate him to that degree when you allowed that psychopath to treat Sebastian like that, and then you readily participated in the whole thing.
"You inflicted so much pain and humiliation on him. You made my son a punchbag for yourself, you committed a terrifying act and you were merciless.
"I made many mistakes as a parent. Perhaps I was not able to be a perfect father, but I loved Sebastian. However I could not protect him from evil, evil which was inflicted on him by his own mother."
Mrs Justice Lambert told Kalinowska and Latoszewski: "You, Latoszewski, are a bully. Like all bullies, you sought to intimidate and frighten Sebastian, who was weaker than you.
"In Sebastian you found an easy prey.
"There were times when viewing the footage I was sure you had lost awareness of the fact that you were hitting a human being and not a punching bag.
"As for you, Kalinowska, the explanation is simple - you just didn't care about Sebastian. You were only interested in yourself."
The sentencing was the third to be broadcast in the UK.
Geraldine Kelly, mitigating for Latoszewski, said: "However unreasonable it seems, and distorted a way of thinking, there is evidence to suggest what motivated this appalling conduct was them seeking to discipline [Sebastian]."
Sebastian came to Huddersfield from Poland in October 2020 and he was considered pleasant and "mild mannered" by teachers, but sad at times.
The vile couple would discipline him with the methods becoming "progressively harsh", jurors at Leeds Crown Court were told during the trial.
These punishments were "by any stretch of the imagination cruel and became increasingly more severe and violent over time", prosecutor Jason Pitter said.
He was abused for weeks – documented by footage recorded by cameras used to monitor Sebastian.
Latoszewski kept footage of himself verbally abusing the boy.
The day before his death, Latoszewski was seen on CCTV forcing food and drink into the teenager’s mouth and stabbing him several times in the groin and thigh with a needle, apparently while laughing.
He was also assaulted on August 13 last year, the day he died.
Latoszewski took the boy out of a bedroom at 8.25am, then carrying him back about 15 minutes later "naked, clearly wet and unconscious".
After two-and-a-half hours of him being unconscious, the emergency services were called.
