Victim's room left 'a blood bath' in Stevenage killing

A rented room in Stevenage where a Polish man was found dying was a "blood bath", a jury has been told.

Jaroslaw Kowalski, 26, was bludgeoned about the head with a heavy dumbbell bar in Stevenage in July last year, Luton Crown Court heard.

Poles Marcin Skibicki, 29 of Bute Street, Luton and Pawal Pilipow, 25 of Rye Close, Stevenage, deny murder.

Prosecutor Michael Speak said Mr Kowalski's room was "like a blood bath, like a horror scene".

The bakery worker from Nysa had 47 separate injuries on his head, face and body and a fractured skull.

A pathologist found "distinctive" marks on his scalp, that matched the end of a weight's bar found in the room.

Mr Speak said: "His room mate found his friend in a terrible state.

"It was quite apparent his head had been beaten to a pulp.

"He was covered in blood and the walls, fridge and wardrobe were spattered with blood."

He said the victim died shortly after being found in the room in Vardon Road.

The court heard that one of the accused, Mr Pilipow, worked at the Allied Bakery in Stevenage with Mr Kowalski.

Mr Speak said: "The prosecution say the two defendants murdered him in that room for reasons which regrettably remain obscure."

He said that following their arrests both men blamed the other for committing the violence.

Mr Skibicki admitted he had hit the victim on the nose and urinated on him.

But he claimed it was Mr Pilipow who had used the bar to hit Mr Kowalski while he tried to stop him.

Mr Pilipow alleged that Mr Skibicki picked up the dumbbell but was not sure whether he had actually struck Mr Kowalski with it.