A gang has been convicted today for their involvement in the abduction of a man from his home and his death.

Tobiasz Kozlowski, 38 of Kirby, Merseyside and Neil Jones, 48, of no fixed address were found guilty at Birmingham Crown Court of murder today (12 August 2026) following the death of 45-year-old Tomasz Samel, who was kidnapped, falsely imprisoned,  tortured and set on fire.  They had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to falsely imprison.  Neil Jones had, in addition, pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Two other men - Kevin Wooden, 46 of Banbury, Oxfordshire and Kye Arthur, 35, of Bristol were found guilty of manslaughter. Both men had previously admitted conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to falsely imprison.

Kozlowski's wife, Sandra Kozlowska, 38, of Kirkby, was convicted of assisting an offender after she helped her husband to avoid detection by depositing money in bank accounts for him and lying to the police.

Mr Samel was targeted by an organised crime group who believed he was responsible for the loss of an illegal cigarette shipment worth millions of pounds. Kozlowski and Jones recruited others to help kidnap, imprison and inflict serious violence on him as punishment.

Mr Samel was kidnapped from his home in Handsworth by Wooden and Arthur and a third male who posed as Interpol officers executing a European Arrest Warrant and was subjected to violence before being set on fire. 

He was later left by a roadside in Lancashire, from where he was able to knock on the door of a nearby remote property and told the residents he had been driven from Birmingham and tortured. He later died from his injuries in hospital.

Kate Seal, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "This was a brutal attack on a man who was kidnapped from his own home and subjected to horrendous violence.

"The CPS worked closely with West Midlands Police throughout this lengthy and complex investigation to pursue lines of enquiry and build a case using forensic, digital and witness evidence.

“Our thoughts remain with Mr Samel’s family, who have endured unimaginable suffering, including witnessing his abduction from their family home. I hope these verdicts provide some measure of closure and reassurance that justice has been achieved."

The defendants will be sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court on 9 October.