Polish man guilty of manslaughter of lover’s ex
Michal Kurowski had pleaded not guilty to the murder of 32-year-old Michal Skotak at Racecourse Lawn, Tralee, on May 16, 2009.
After two hours and 22 minutes of deliberation, the jury brought in 10/1 majority verdict on the fourth day of the trial at the Central Criminal Court, in Tralee.
The eleven-member jury produced a written explanation, which was described as not customary by Mr Justice Paul Carney who asked that it be read out by a court official. The note read: “Not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter in self defence. More force was used than was necessary but no more force than the accused thought.”
Kurowski, of Old Gallows Field, Tralee, was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on June 14 next.
An electronics graduate, he came to Tralee, in September 2005, and immediately got work as a general operative in the now closed Amann textile factory. He was in a long-term relationship with a Polish woman who lived with him.
The court heard how, in 2008 he met Mr Skotak’s wife, Anna, who was working in the same factory, and a friendship between them soon developed into a relationship.
She had come from Poland the previous year to join her husband, who had also been working in the Tralee area, bringing their two young children with her. In the same year, Mr Skotak adopted the two children of his sister, who died tragically in Poland. They lived in a rented house in Racecourse Lawn.
In evidence, Kurowski said Mr Skotak was furious with Anna and then with him when he learned of the relationship.
Anna Skotak, a prosecution witness and now Kurowski’s partner, told the jury her late husband had begun drinking heavily after his sister’s death. She left him, in March 2009, to move in with Kurowski.
This was two months before the fatal incident after the holy communion party at Racecourse Lawn.
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