A MAN accused of murder has told jurors that he saw one of his co-accused punching and kicking the alleged victim as a result of simmering tension following a sexual slur.

Rafal Chmielewski told Teesside Crown Court that Zbigniew Pawlowski was enraged when Tomasz Dembler made a joke about him having sexual contact with men.

Jurors heard that a few days after the joke was made Pawlowski beat the 39-year-old to death after barging his way into Mr Dembler's bedroom.

Chmielewski said he and two other people at the party in a terraced house on Edward Street, North Ormesby, Middlesbrough, tried to intervene but Pawlowski was too strong and kept them out of the room.

The Northern Echo:

Giving evidence through a Polish interpreter, Chmielewski said Mr Dembler had moved into the house a matter of days before the fatal attack in the early hours of March 21 last year.

Sharon Beattie QC, Chmielewski's barrister, quizzed her client about what he witnessed during Pawlowski's alleged attack on Mr Dembler.

Chmielewski said: "He made a squat as if he was standing on him and beating him up on his face. He was squatted, hunched and he was battering him.

"Mr Dembler lying on the floor next to the radiator. Pawlowski was beating him up with his fists."

Ms Beattie asked what he and two of the other co-accused, Tomasz Recycki and Adam Czerwinski, did to try to prevent the attack.

Chmielewski replied: "Everyone was yelling to let go of him and leave him alone. Pawlowski was shouting back 'f*** off, it's none of your business'.

"I got between Adam and Tomasz Recycki, I tried to pull Pawlowski away but I failed to do so.

"Pawlowski grabbed me by my chest and pushed my outside the room."

When asked 'what did he see?', Chmielewski replied: "He was stamping on him with his foot and he was kicking him."

The defendant said Pawlowski was a strong man who worked out at the gym and took steroids.

Earlier in the evidence, he told the court how Dembler had bragged about dealing in 'kilogrammes of cannabis' and had taken to Reading on two occasions for a 'business meeting'.

The Northern Echo: The house on Edward Street, North Ormesby, where Tomasz Dembler was killedThe house on Edward Street, North Ormesby, where Tomasz Dembler was killed

He said Mr Dembler had moved into his cousin's house - Adam Czerwinski - several days before he was killed.

The court heard that a few days before his death, Mr Dembler had been making jokes about Pawlowski having 'sexual contact' with men. A joke, he said, that didn't go down well with Pawlowski at the time.

Chmielewski said several people were at the house on March 20 having a 'small party' but Mr Dembler was in his room asleep.

He said Pawlowski didn't say anything to anyone before launching the fatal attack.

Earlier in the trial, jurors heard how the 39-year-old's mutilated body was then dumped in a shallow grave in woodland near the Flatts Lane Country Park. It was discovered two weeks later when two teenage spotted toes sticking out of the ground and called the police.

The Northern Echo: Police at the scene where Mr Dembler's body was recoveredPolice at the scene where Mr Dembler's body was recovered

Zbigniew Pawlowski, of Leven Street, Newport, Middlesbrough; Rafal Chmielewski, 37, of Birchington Avenue, Grangetown; Tomasz Reczycki, 37, of Ashfield Avenue, Grove Hill, Middlesbrough; Monika Solerska, 37, of Birchington Avenue, Grangetown; and Adam Czerwinski, 45, of Edward Street, North Ormesby, all deny murder.

The trial continues.

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