WALKED (2019) | alleged dog killer Klaudiusz Maria Grzesiak, born c. 1973, of Ballacannell Estate, Laxey, Isle of Man IM4 – walked free from court after the sole witness, his wife, refused to testify against him
The case against Polish national Klaudiusz Maria Grzesiak, who was accused of strangling a cocker spaniel named Milka to death, collapsed after his wife, Marta Adamczewska-Grzesiak, withdrew her evidence.
IOM Today previously reported that the dog had been found dead in a children’s shed in the garden of the family’s home in Ballacannell, Laxey on Tuesday November 19, 2019. The court heard she was wrapped in clear plastic and a black bag.
A post mortem examination carried out on Milka confirmed the cause of death was strangulation to the front of the neck.
They were also injuries consistent with trauma to the dog’s back.
Mrs Grzesiak had advertised the dog as missing on Facebook before her body was discovered.
Prosecutor Roger Kane told the court during an initial hearing that Mrs Grzesiak had received text messages about the dog following a verbal altercation with her husband the previous day.
Grzesiak had denied causing unnecessary suffering to the dog and damaging property. But just days before a pre-trial review hearing on Christmas Eve 2019, his wife retracted a statement she’d made to police.
Prosecution advocate Rebecca Cubbon said by law she was prevented from compelling Mrs Grzesiak to give evidence against her husband.
She said under the circumstances, all the prosecution could do was offer no evidence on both counts.
Mrs Hughes told Grzesiak no further action would be taken against him, and formally dismissed the charges.
She also said the prosecution wasn’t to blame for the trial’s collapse, and didn’t order defence costs to be paid.