By Fiona Magennis
The son of a Slovakian man, who died in Newbridge after he was repeatedly kicked in the head by a violent criminal who had recently moved into his home, has said his father “did not deserve to leave this world in such a cruel way” and that he and his sister will carry the trauma of what happened for the rest of their lives.
The Central Criminal Court heard that the victim Marcel Kusenda (48) was also subject to a sexual assault by a different man not before the court as he lay seriously injured in his room.
Damian Szatkowski (38) of Peachville, Kilshane, Dublin 11, pleaded guilty in October to the manslaughter of Mr Kusenda, in Newbridge, Co Kildare on or about 8 March, 2023. He has 61 previous convictions.
Detective Garda Paddy Regan told prosecuting counsel Garrett Baker SC that Mr Kusenda Snr was originally from Slovakia but had been living in Ireland for 20 years. He said the deceased man had been living at the property for approximately eight years and the defendant, who is originally from Poland, had moved in a matter of days or weeks beforehand.
The detective garda confirmed to Mr Baker that an ambulance had been despatched to an address at Piercetown in Newbridge on March 8, 2023 at around 1pm.
Mr Kusenda Snr was found lying slumped on some furniture wrapped in a blanket with some facial injuries. He was alive but unresponsive and was brought to Naas General Hospital where he was observed to have bruising to one of his eye sockets and his nose appeared to be deviated.
Det Gda Regan confirmed that Mr Kusenda Snr also had a large subdural hematoma, a large blood clot on the brain. His condition deteriorated, he did not regain consciousness and he was pronounced dead on March 10.
During the course of the investigation, gardaí spoke to the deceased man’s son, Marcel Kusenda Jr, who had voice messages on his phone from which it appeared Mr Kusenda Sr had been the subject of an assault.
Det Gda Regan confirmed to counsel that gardaí also spoke to Marytn Najder, who told gardaí that he was in the house at the time along with the accused man Damian Szatkowski, Szatkowski’s girlfriend and the deceased.
He said Mr Kusenda Snr was drinking whiskey and Mr Najder observed the deceased man patting the hair of the defendant's girlfriend. He said Mr Kusenda had been “joking and messing” but the accused man got aggressive because of this, there was a sharp exchange of words and things got "pretty heated".
Mr Najder left the house but subsequently got a call from the defendant’s girlfriend, who told him Szatkowski had struck Mr Kusenda two times in the nose. The Detective Garda agreed that the information recounted at that stage was that there was some allegation that Mr Kusenda Snr “may have touched” a child “inappropriately”.
The Det Gda said there was no complaint made in relation to the incident. He said the child was subsequently interviewed and there was “nothing disclosed in relation to any inappropriate behaviour” on the part of Mr Kusenda Snr.
Mr Najder returned to the house where he found Mr Kusenda Snr injured and “covered in blood”. The deceased “completely denied” the allegation of inappropriate behaviour, Mr Najder told gardaí.
The defendant left the house but returned at around 9pm when he entered Mr Kusenda Snr’s room and struck him twice in the face with what was described as “two quick punches to his nose” while the injured party was sitting on the floor. As the deceased tried to get up off the ground, Szatkowski then kicked him three more times in the face near the nose.
Det Gda Regan confirmed to Mr Baker that it appeared the injured party was unconscious at this point and was left in the bedroom for a number of hours.
At some point in the evening a third individual, an Irish man, arrived at the house and he and the accused man cleared Mr Kusenda Snr’s belongings.
Mr Najder went into the injured party’s room and could see he was still bleeding and at one-point corrected Mr Kusenda Snr’s head position because “his breathing was strange”. He was afraid to call for an ambulance because the accused man was very angry and threatened him not to do so.
The court heard that at some point during the night, the Irish man approached the injured party while he was unconscious, inserted a pen into his anus and said: “How do you feel right now? This is for that little [child].”
A post mortem conducted by State pathologist Dr Heidi Okkers noted various injuries including a displaced fracture of the nasal bone and an acute subdural hematoma – a blood clot in the brain - of up to 15mm in thickness.
Dr Okkers noted that the injuries were in keeping with several blows to the head and face and the cause of death was complications of blunt force head injury with no other contributory factors.
Szatkowski was arrested and during the course of five interviews he maintained that he had only punched Mr Kusenda Snr one time.
Det Gda Regan told the court Szatkowski is unemployed and has been living in Ireland for over 15 years. He said the accused has 61 previous convictions, including three for assault, three for criminal damage, three for offensive weapons and four for public order.
Mr Kusenda Snr’s son, who listened to proceedings via video link today, provided a victim impact statement which was read to the court by Mr Baker.
He said he wouldn’t “wish on anyone” the shock he had experienced when he found out that his father had been beaten up and was in a “very bad condition”.
He said his father did not deserve to be treated in “such a cruel and brutal way”.
“I miss my father very much. I still remember his advice for me, how he taught me to go through life. He was not only my father but also my best friend,” he added.
Mr Kusenda Jr said his 20-year-old sister Sara Zamecnikova had been left “sad” and “depressed” by their father’s death. “We try to comfort each other but it is very difficult,” he said.
Mr Kusenda Jr said he was asking the court for a “fair judgement” of the accused’s offence and “an adequate punishment” but said whatever punishment is given “will not bring my father back”.
“Our father did not deserve to leave this word in such a cruel way,” he said. “That’s why we as his children will carry this trauma for all of our lives.”
Mr Kusenda Snr’s sister Renata Struharova and Miroslava Taziarova also provided a victim impact statement which was read to the court today. They said they had been looking forward to a vacation in Ireland with their brother but two days before their departure they found out he was in hospital and was seriously ill.
They said after they arrived in Ireland, they had to identify their brother before his life support machine was turned off.
“We kept thinking about him and the horrible way he left this world,” the sisters said in their statement. “We still carry the psychological trauma with us.”
Mr Baker told the court the Director of Public Prosecutions is of the view that the offence lies in the “high culpability zone” meriting a headline sentence of ten to 15 years. counsel said there had been two episodes of violence, involving three kicks to the head. He said there had been a conscious decision to return to the house to engage in violence and the defendant had not only failed to call for any sort of medical intervention but prevented a third party from doing so.
Michael Bowman SC, representing Szatkowski, told the court that a plea to manslaughter had been entered by the accused at an early stage and was of great value to the prosecution as Mr Najder, who would have been a very significant witness in the case, has left the country and would not have been available for the trial.
He said it appeared that the deceased man had been drinking throughout the course of the evening, was heavily intoxicated and, although he had been punched, it was thought he was “sleeping it off”. Det Gda Regan said this was “possible”.
Mr Bowman presented the court with various documentation, including a letter from the accused in which he expressed his remorse for what had happened.
In the letter, addressed to Mr Kusenda’s son, he said there wasn’t a day that goes by that he doesn’t “deeply regret” the behaviour that led to the deceased’s death. He said he was “tormented” by his “disgraceful” actions and his decision “not to raise the alarm immediately”.
“I will never forgive myself,” he said.
Mr Bowman said the fact that there were two incidents should not push the offence into the higher bracket. He said the accused had expressed remorse and there was no weapon involved. He submitted that in circumstances where the accused did not intend to cause serious harm, the offence “more naturally falls into the medium category”.
Ms Justice Eileen Creedon adjourned the matter to February 17 for sentencing.
