Peterborough man kept girlfriend prisoner in flat for three days

Police were called to the house of Tomasz Grabowski, in Naseby Close, Peterborough, in the early hours of 1 April last year.

Grabowski’s neighbours had overheard a woman screaming outside the flat and went to help.

They saw Grabowski leaning over the woman on his stairwell and trying to pull her back upstairs into his flat.

One of the neighbours intervened and stood in-between the pair before telling Grabowski, (39), to go back to his flat.

The woman then confided in the neighbours, saying Grabowski had kept her hostage for three days.

Grabowski, who had been in a relationship with the woman for about a year, held her in his flat against her will between 27 March and 30 March 2018.

He also assaulted her several times. His catalogue of physical abuse included hitting her in the face causing her black eyes, smashing her head against a wall causing her to temporarily lose her hearing and giving her sore ribs and injuries all over her body.

Grabowski’s neighbours called the police but when officers arrived he was not at the scene and had left his flat.

He was arrested and in police interview claimed he couldn’t remember what had happened as he was ‘high on drugs’.

He claimed he and his girlfriend were on an ‘alcohol binge’ at the time and said her injuries could have been caused by her falling over drunk.

He denied keeping the woman as a prisoner in his home and said she could leave any time she wanted.

After a three-day trial at Cambridge Crown Court, Grabowski was found guilty of false imprisonment and assaulting a person occasioning them actual bodily harm (ABH).

He was sentenced on the same day, yesterday (14 October), where he was handed three years in prison.

He was also handed a restraining order, preventing him from contacting the victim, which will run until further order.

Judge Stuart Bridge praised the neighbour who intervened and stood between Grabowski and his partner, adding that she should be recommended for a High Sheriff award for her bravery.

DC Sarah Murtagh, who investigated, said: “This was a terrifying ordeal for the victim who was kept in Grabowski’s flat against her will for three days.

She was held hostage by someone she thought she could trust and was also viciously assaulted during this time.

“I’d like to praise the neighbours who intervened and stopped Grabowski from taking the woman back up to his flat once again.

“Grabowski is a violent man and I hope this sentence brings some closure and comfort to the victim.”