The court ordered the defendant to refrain from abusing alcohol, undergo alcohol treatment, and refrain from staying in the company of people addicted to alcohol. The court also stated that the way Dominik was treated by his mother means he can be viewed differently, and that it casts his act in a different light.
“Dominik is not a criminal,” Judge Paweł Wyrzykowski said in the justification of the verdict. “The testimony of all the witnesses shows that Mr. Kopeć was a calm, balanced, quiet person. On the one hand, we have a drastic act involving two victims, one of them fatal; on the other, we have the circumstances established in these proceedings: a situation of incessant attacks on human dignity, attacks that continued and continued. Not only was Dominik attacked, but by whom? By his mother—the person associated with love and care. It was painful to read the witnesses’ testimony, even though it was only on paper. Instead of defending her own child, the mother joined her partner in hurting him. The proceedings in the Dominik case are ongoing and have not ended. I say this in the context of the voices that have appeared in the public sphere. I do not know how this sentence will affect the defendant. Whether Agnieszka K. is able to understand what happened and try to change depends solely and exclusively on her,” Judge Wyrzykowski concluded.
Dominik’s lawyer said that the family was the injured party in this case. Dominik never experienced warmth or love and did not have a real childhood.
“This is punishment for motherhood—for bad motherhood,” Małgorzata Gruszecka told the convicted mother. “This punishment will also remain connected with Dominik for the rest of his life, because something happened to him that Dominik will never erase from his memory. I hope the verdict becomes final, and that Agnieszka, who is still a young person at only 39, submits to probation supervision and complies with the obligations imposed on her today—obligations that will allow her to recover. Dominik’s greatest dream is to return home to a sober mother who is waiting for him, and then go for a happy walk. That is why the injured party and the lawyers wish her to reflect deeply on what happened and undergo treatment so that she never hurts anyone again,” the lawyer concluded.
Agnieszka herself does not explain her actions. She knows what she did and how harmful it was to her child. In an interview with istotne.pl, she spoke about her childhood, which was just as brutal as the one she created for her son. Her first conscious childhood memory is of drunk parents and her father beating her mother. She also talks about the thick cable her father used to beat her and her siblings for bad grades, returning from the yard too late, and other “disobedience.”
In her account, the most dramatic period was when she became pregnant. She was 18. She says Dominik’s father did not want to hear about the child and took no responsibility for this “adventure.” Dominik has never met him to this day.
Agnieszka hid the pregnancy from her parents. In the seventh month, when it became too visible, her hell began. When a pregnant woman needs the greatest support, she says she heard from her father that she was a “wh***” and a “slut,” and that he did not want to see her child. He came to accept Dominik two months after his birth. Today he loves his grandson, but he no longer has such a big heart for his daughter.
The sentence for “bad motherhood” has been handed down; we will probably never see punishment for bad fatherhood. It is very heartening that the courts in both cases—the ongoing Dominik case and the concluded case against his mother—have shown sensitivity and understanding. Agnieszka K.’s sentence offers hope that this family’s alcohol-related drama can end. If the convicted woman fulfills the conditions of her sentence and undergoes treatment and therapy.
The full interview with Agnieszka, in which she talks about her life, will soon be available on istotne.pl.