The Lubań District Prosecutor’s Office is conducting an investigation against Grzegorz W., suspected of attempting, on 14 October 2017 in Olszyna and in a forest near Krzewie Małe and Grodnica in Lubań County, to force a victim to hand over PLN 40,000. The money was allegedly intended as compensation for destroyed gambling machines. The suspect threatened to take the victim’s life, used a knife, a baseball bat and an object resembling a firearm, and struck the victim repeatedly on the head and across his body.
The perpetrator failed to achieve his goal because the victim escaped. However, as a result of the blows, he caused the victim bodily injuries, including a displaced bilateral fracture of the mandible, resulting in impaired bodily functions for more than seven days. Moreover, on the same day, the suspect threatened to take the victim’s life if he reported to the Police the extortion and bodily harm committed against him.
Shortly after the incident, the suspect was arrested and brought to the Lubań District Prosecutor’s Office, where he was formally charged with committing the offences. After carrying out procedural activities with the suspect, the Lubań District Prosecutor applied to the Lubań District Court for his temporary detention for three months from the date of his arrest.
In a decision dated 23 October 2017, the Lubań District Court granted the prosecutor’s application, subject to the condition that temporary detention would be replaced by bail once the suspect paid PLN 30,000.
The Lubań District Prosecutor disagreed with the court’s decision and announced that an appeal would be filed in the matter. The offence with which the suspect has been charged carries a sentence of one to ten years’ imprisonment. The act of unlawfully influencing a witness is punishable by three months to five years’ imprisonment.