Man jailed for attempting to push woman in front of Tube at King’s Crosson April 24, 2023 at 12:07 pm

A man who drunkenly tried to throw a woman in front of a Tube train as she travelled to Notting Hill Carnival has been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

Arthur Hawrylewicz, 42, from Avondale Gardens, Cardiff, admitted attempting to murder 22-year-old Maria Osifeso on 29 August last year.

The court heard he had grabbed the victim in a bear hug as she waited at King’s Cross Underground station.

Hawrylewicz was told he will serve up to two thirds of the term in custody.

Inner London Crown Court heard how Ms Osifesto was saved by friends, including Constantinos Spyrou, who got between them and forced Hawrylewicz on to the ground, where he moved like a “fish in a bellyflop movement”, hitting his head on the train and being knocked unconscious.

Sentencing on Monday, Judge Benedict Kelleher said: “You had approached your victim while she was standing with friends on the platform at King’s Cross Underground station.

“She was a complete stranger to you. You tried briefly to speak to her but she ignored you.

“It is clear from the available evidence you intended to kill yourself that day but there is nothing to explain why you chose to try to kill an innocent bystander.”

In a victim impact statement read in court, Ms Osifeso, a pharmacist, said she was left “reeling” and wondering “what if?”.

She said: “What if my friends hadn’t been there? What if my male friend hadn’t jumped in to grab him?

“What if I had been standing closer to the tracks?

“It is incredibly traumatic to think how close I came to dying.”

She added that the effects have been “profound and long-lasting” and she now suffers “overwhelming anxiety” when travelling alone on the Tube.

Father-of-two Hawrylewicz, originally from Poland, had lived in the UK, where he worked in the construction industry, for 15 years and had been in London for work.

The court heard his young family had returned to Poland in August 2021 and messages indicated he was “depressed” about his life.

Hawrylewicz told police he had drunk up to four beers and a third of a litre of vodka before the attack, and thought of killing himself.

Alexia Nicol, defending, described her client as a “hardworking family man” and said he was in a “confused and desperate state” in a “perfect storm” caused by his “emotional position, his drinking and the busyness of the platform”.

She said he recognised the “real sorrow” he had put his victim through and wanted to “apologise to her”.

“He regrets what happened on that day, every single day,” she added.

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