Man turned Easter into horror for his girlfriend

Man turned Easter into horror for his girlfriend

5 December 2012

A COURT has heard how Easter celebrations turned sour when a Polish man attacked his ex-girlfriend’s car in Downpatrick.

Adam Dolecki (33) jumped on the roof and bonnet of the car and smashed all the windows, running up a damage bill of more than £2,000, during an incident outside his Meadowlands home in the early hours of Easter Monday, April 25, 2011.

At a special sitting of Downpatrick Court last Wednesday, Dolecki was convicted of a charge of causing criminal damage to the Mazda car which belonged to Latvian woman Regina Sidorova.

The court was told that Dolecki had been drinking vodka at a barbecue at his house hours earlier, though he denied being drunk.

Dolecki also claimed that he had been in bed at the time of the incident and that the allegations against him had been made out of spite.

Deputy District Judge Nigel Broderick said he was satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that Dolecki did damage the car.

However, he cleared Dolecki of further charges of threatening to kill Miss Sidorova and threatening to damage property.

Miss Sidorova had been attending a separate Easter Sunday barbecue at a house just a few yards yards from where Dolecki lived.

Speaking through an interpreter, she said she had gone to bed at around 11pm, but woken by a friend who told her that her car was being damaged. She rushed outside and saw Dolecki “smashing up” the vehicle.

“He said he would kill me if I did not leave Downpatrick,” she said. “I tried to stop him. I tried to speak to him, but he did not pay attention to what I was saying. He kept on smashing and kicking.

“He was coming towards me with a stone. He was angry. Then he said he was going to burn down my house and my friend’s house. I was afraid for my own life and for my daughter’s life.”

Miss Sidorova said Dolecki ran off after the incident. Police who called at the scene later saw a man crouched in a nearby garden. When confronted he ran through in a hedge and into a field. He could not be found. Dolecki was not at his home when police called a short time later.

Dolecki, who also spoke through an interpreter, said he drank a few shot glasses of vodka at the barbecue. At around 10pm he went to a house in Irish Street with the intention of having more drink, but he went to bed.

He denied damaging the car or making threats. “I did not do it. I was not there,” he said.

However, a prosecution lawyer told Dolecki he had continued drinking and had got angry.

“You returned to Meadowlands around midnight and got more and more annoyed, and you took your annoyance out on Miss Sidorova’s car. When you were found out you threatened Miss Sidorova,” the lawyer said.

Mr. Broderick said he did not find Dolecki to be a credible witness. “I do believe that he did have a lot of drink taken and he did damage the vehicle.”

The judge said he was dismissing the other charges on the grounds that he could not be satisfied that Miss Sidorova understood what Dolecki had said. The case was adjourned to January 10 for sentencing.