In May 2022 Lukazc Czapla was found guilty at the High Court in Edinburgh of murdering his two-year-old son. The court heard that he murdered his son after finding out that the child’s mother was in a new relationship.
Czapla shot his son in the head with a BB gun, stabbed him with a skewer like instrument and smothered him with a pillow. Lord Matthews sentenced him to serve at least 23 years in prison.
However, Czapla instructed his legal team to lodge an appeal against both his conviction and sentence. However, he has now abandoned his appeal against conviction. His appeal against sentence is due to take place next month.
At trial Czapla offered to plead guilty to culpable homicide and he claimed diminished responsibility. However, this was not accepted and the jury unanimously convicted him of murder.
In sentencing Czapla, Lors Beckett said: “As a result of your actions, your son will never grow up and his loving mother has lost him forever and can only be haunted by the knowledge of the truly evil things you did.”
Following the conviction, the child’s mother, Patrycja stated: “Juliusz was murdered only for revenge. His dad wanted me to suffer. He succeeded and achieved his goal, at the cost of my beloved little boy’s life. My suffering and my pain will stay with me for the rest of my life. But the unconditional love I have for my baby, my dearest child Juliusz, will never end.”