Two jailed for murder after Met officers’ meticulous trawl of CCTV and phone records

Two men have been jailed for life for murder after detectives proved one brutally attacked a sleeping man, whilst the other filmed it.

Rafal Zabiecki, 48, was asleep when Jakub Molga and Andrej Kolecki went into his Pinner home on 20 February 2023 and launched an attack that left him with terrible injuries. Sadly, he died at the scene.

A jury at Woolwich Crown Court heard how Molga beat Rafal with a wooden table leg, hitting him so hard the piece of furniture broke. Molga re-armed himself with heavier piece of wood and continued his attack, finally pouring boiling water over Rafal’s feet. He was filmed by his friend, Andrej Kolecki, on his phone.

Officers immediately launched an investigation and pieced together CCTV and phone evidence, along with finding fingerprints in the property in Howards Close. After the arrest of Molga on 24 February 2023 officers recovered the video that Kolecki had filmed despite it having been deleted.

They gathered enough evidence to charge Molga (also known as Leon Pedrycz), 26 (01.06.97), of Romford Road, E7 with murder on 27 February.

Andrej Kolecki, 61 (11.07.62), of Chaplin Road, Cricklewood, was arrested on Sunday, 26 February. He was also charged with murder on Monday, 27 February.

Detective Inspector Lucy Carberry, who led the team, said: “Molga’s claims that he didn’t intend to cause him serious harm are staggering – it was clear that Molga and Kolecki went there with a plan. From the start we knew we had to prove that this was a case of murder and that they had intended to seriously harm him.

“The team spent hours building the case against Molga and Kolecki, so that they could be properly held to account for their heartless crimes that day, and give Mr Zabieki’s family a small degree of comfort knowing that they were brought to justice.”

At the start of the trial Molga pleaded guilty to manslaughter, claiming that he hadn’t intended to kill Rafal or cause him really serious harm. The jury saw through this and found him guilty of murder along with Kolecki. Molga had previously pleaded guilty to ABH on another party present, Kolecki was also found guilty of ABH on the same individual.

Rafal’s sister, Magdalena, said: “I am so happy that the jury have made the right decision. Although it can never bring Rafal back I feel that we have got justice for him and the rest of the family. I would like to thank the police investigation team for everything they have done and the support they have provided to us.”

The pair were sentenced on Friday, 2 February at the Old Bailey.

Molga was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum tariff of 22 years.

Kolecki was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum tariff of 19 years.