UK Edition
Boy, 16, 'killed Polish man with superman punch after laughing about his English'
A 16-year-old boy killed a Polish man with a "superman punch" after "laughing about his English", a court has heard.
The youth, who was 15-years-old at the time of the alleged attack and cannot be named for legal reasons, denies the manslaughter of Arkadiusz Jozwik.
Mr Jozwik, 40, had been drinking with two friends and had just bought a pizza when he was set upon outside a row of takeaway shops in Harlow, Essex, shortly after 11.30pm on August 27, 2016, Chelmsford Crown Court heard.
He died two days later in hospital from head injuries.
Rosina Cottage QC, prosecuting, said Mr Jozwik had been drinking vodka with his friend Radek Koscelski and they were both "speaking loudly and appeared to be drunk and smelt of alcohol".
She said a third friend, Jakub Lusiecki, drank beer and "appeared to be sober".
The three men sat on a bench to eat pizza near a group of teenagers with bikes who had been there for most of the day and the defendant was part of the group, Ms Cottage said.
She said the attention of the Polish men was drawn to the group of teenagers as "something was kicked or thrown close to them" in The Stow shopping precinct.
"There was some laughter about their English and one of the teenagers was cycling around the group," Ms Cottage said.
She said Mr Koscelski "was swaying and drunk and may have been argumentative, offering to fight", but he made no physical contact.
She said two boys cycled close to Mr Koscelski and Mr Jozwik, which "seemed to spark a disagreement" between the two groups.
Showing CCTV footage to jurors, Ms Cottage said it appears that Mr Koscelski tripped over his own feet then the youth "appears to jump in the air and swing his arm with force to the head of Mr Jozwik".
Some of Mr Jozwik's family were in court, and some left the room as the CCTV footage was shown.
Ms Cottage said: "The prosecution does not say that [the youth] thought for a moment that what he did would result in the death of a man.
"However, we say he moved deliberately around the back of Mr Jozwik to take him by surprise and to hit him from behind.
"[The youth] jumped up from the ground using the whole force of his body to hit Mr Jozwik to his head.
"From what looks to be like a 'superman punch' that he threw he must have intended to send the man to the ground."
The slightly built boy sat with his parents at the back of the courtroom, and Judge Patricia Lynch and barristers sat without their wigs and robes due to his age.
Blood alcohol tests on Mr Jozwik showed he was around "twice over the legal limit to drive", Ms Cottage said.
"Mr Koscelski was clearly very drunk and the deceased Mr Jozwik was also drunk, but the prosecution says there was no need for violence to be offered to either man," said Ms Cottage.
"We say he was not aggressive to the group and certainly not [the youth]."
She continued: "For whatever reason, maybe even just immature bravado, the prosecution say [the youth] took a deliberate decision to use unlawful violence when he went around the back of the group to punch Mr Jozwik."
The trial continues.