Life sentence for teenage murderer

A fifteen-year-old boy has been detained at Her Majesty’s pleasure for the murder of another schoolboy in Boston, Lincolnshire.

Marcel Grzeszcz attacked and killed 12-year-old Roberts Buncis in the early hours of 12 December 2020. He lured his victim out of his house and attacked him in a wooded area close to a footpath in Fishtoft, stabbing him over 70 times. Messages on Grzeszcz’s phone revealed a background of drugs and violence, including a planned attack on another boy five days before.

The evidence against Marcel Grzeszcz was significant. Phone messages where he admitted to friends that he had intended to harm Roberts Buncis and that he had ‘done something bad’ were discovered. He was treated for a hand injury that was likely to have been caused by the attack. A search of his home revealed a knife and latex gloves with DNA that matched both boys. Despite this, Grzeszcz denied killing Roberts Buncis. He was found guilty by a jury at Lincoln Crown Court in July 2021. He was today, 8 November, handed a life sentence with a minimum custodial term of 17 years.

Julie Swift-Rollinson of the CPS said: “This was a truly harrowing case to prosecute. Marcel Grzeszcz carried out a brutal, sustained attack on Roberts Buncis. The attack came after an escalation of aggression and violent behaviour, starting with messages between fellow teenagers and culminating in this attack. Grzeszcz planned the meeting with Roberts late at night, taking a knife with him. Even if he arranged the meeting without intending to kill, maintaining the savage nature of his attack showed that he could not have had any other intention once he had started.

“Despite the overwhelming evidence, Marcel Grzeszcz did not admit what he had done, so the case had to go to trial.

“My thoughts and sympathies are with Roberts’s loved ones. Losing him so young and so suddenly to such a senseless attack is devastating.”