The risks of maintaining open borders.
Revealed: Gang who battered dad in his £2m home in front of his family were convicted Polish thugs allowed to stroll into the UK
Celebration: Paul Kohler with his family. They were playing a board game when the raiders burst into their £2m home. Inset: His face after the attack
Academic Paul Kohler (pictured left after the attack and right today), 55, needed facial reconstruction surgery for a fractured eye socket after he was set upon by a gang of balaclava-clad men
- Paul Kohler, 55, needed facial reconstruction surgery after raid in August
- Gang had burst into his £2m home in Wimbledon and attacked him
- Each gang member was let into UK despite long criminal records
- They beat him up and threatened to hit him over the head with a door
- His wife Samantha MacArthur was also threatened by the intruders
- Police burst in and arrested Mariusz Tomaszewski and Pawel Honc
- Tomaszewski, 32, Honc, 23, Oskar Pawlowichz, 29, and Dawid Tychon, 29, all admitted aggravated burglary at Kingston Crown Court today
- Honc and Tomaszewski also admitted causing grievous bodily harm
- They will be sentenced for their parts in the attack on January 29
- Mr Kohler say he is ‘ecstatic and pleased’ with the gang’s pleas
- But he says he wants to meet gang to find out why they targeted him
A Polish gang who launched a brutal attack on a top academic walked in through Britain’s open borders despite horrific criminal records.
Professor Paul Kohler, 55, suffered appalling injuries when he was beaten in front of his family at his £2million home.
Images of the battered face of the law expert, a father of four and university friend of Prince Edward, shocked the nation as police mounted an international manhunt.
Now it can be revealed that the four men are all career criminals who saw Britain’s wealthy suburbs as a soft target. Their burly ringleader was on the run from a Polish prison and had already served three sentences for a gun attack, theft, burglary and drugs offences.
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Honc, of no fixed abode, and Tomaszewski, from Mitcham, pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm with intent and aggravated burglary. Pawlowichz, of Mitcham, and Tychon, of no fixed abode, both admitted a single charge of aggravated burglary.
Barristers for all four men said they wanted to express their ‘sincere regret and apologies’. Judge Susan Tapping remanded them in custody and warned them that they can expect to receive substantial prison terms. They will be sentenced on January 29.
Detective Inspector Dan O’Sullivan, who led the inquiry, said: ‘This was an cowardly and vicious attack on an innocent family.’
