Sebastian Kalinowski remembered on first anniversary of his murder

Sebastian Kalinowski grave
Flowers were laid at Sebastian Kalinowski's grave in Poland. Credit: Justice for Sebastian Kalinowski/Facebook

Flowers have been laid in memory of a murdered teenager at his home in Huddersfield and his grave in Poland to mark a year since his death.

Sebastian Kalinowski, who was 15, was tortured by his mother, Agnieszka Kalinowska, and stepfather, Andrzej Latoszewski, for months before he died on 13 August last year.

He suffered fatal complications as a result of multiple untreated rib fractures after repeated violent beatings.

Kalinowska, 36, and Latoszewski, 38, were convicted of murder last month and will be sentenced in October.

Agnieszka Kalinowska and Andrzej Latoszewski. Credit: West Yorkshire Police

Sebastian had lived in the UK for less than a year before his death and all of his natural family live in his native Poland. None of his relatives attended the six-week trial at Leeds Crown Court.

But, since his death, an online community has grown dedicated to keeping Sebastian's memory alive. A Facebook group called Justice for Sebastian Kalinowski now has more than 1,000 members.

They were urged to light candles and leave messages on the anniversary of his death, on Saturday.

Well wishers laid flowers at Sebastian's home on Leeds Road in Huddersfield.

Flowers were laid outside Sebastian's home. Credit: Justice for Sebastian Kalinowski/Facebook

One message said: "Remembering this gentle boy Sebastian on the first anniversary of the day he passed into eternity."

Flowers were also simultaneously left on his grave in his home town of Kiwdzyn, near Gdansk, in his native Poland.

Dozens of messages were also posted online to mark the anniversary of Sebastian's death.

One, from Samantha Watkins, summed up the mood of many. She wrote: "I hope out there somewhere he knows we care."

Patty Wilson said: "Sebastian, you will never be forgotten. I am heartbroken for all you had to endure. You deserved so much better."

During evidence lasting almost five weeks, the jury at Leeds Crown Court was shown harrowing footage from CCTV cameras of Sebastian enduring horrendous treatment.

Andrzej Latoszewski posing in the garden of the house where Sebastian died. Credit: Facebook

The teenager was repeatedly kicked, punched and stamped on by bodybuilder Latoszewski, who practised Thai boxing and used steroids. He was also beaten with weapons, including a spindle from a staircase and a bed slat. He was whipped with a flex cable.

In one incident Sebastian's mother beat him with a slipper and on another held him down while he was attacked by her partner.

The beatings were carried out, the couple said, to punish Sebastian for supposed misbehaviour, including lying and playing truant from school.

Sebastian Kalinowski with classmates at North Huddersfield Trust School. Credit: North Huddersfield Trust School

But the court heard how staff at North Huddersfield Trust School described him as a "model student".

After the case, Sebastian's cousin Wiktoria, who lives in Sebastian's home town of Kiwdzyn, Poland, told ITV News she was "sick" to be related to Angnieszka Kalinowska.

"She is a monster for doing all of that to her own son, and for not stopping Andrzej from hurting him even more," she said. "He is an even bigger monster and, in my opinion, he should rot in jail for what he did to a child that had his whole life ahead of him.

"They should spend the rest of their lives in prison."


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