Dad-of-two kidnapped, tortured and burned alive in £1m gang feud over cigarettes
A dad-of-two was kidnapped, tortured and set on fire after losing £1million-worth of cigarettes in a gang row, a court has heard.
Tomasz Samel, 45, was kidnapped in 2019 in Birmingham by three men claiming to be from Interpol.
A photo of Wooden was released in 2019 during the manhunt for him
Samel, who was the subject of an international arrest warrant, was then driven to the Liverpool area and attacked, prosecutors allege.
He was dumped alive in a remote location 100 miles away and died in hospital three months later, Birmingham Crown Court heard.
Prosecutor Harpreet Sandhu KC alleges that Neil Jones, Kevin Wooden, Kye Arthur and Tobiasz Kozlowski are all guilty of Samel’s murder.
Wooden, 46, Arthur, 35, Jones, 48, and Kozlowski, 38, all deny murder and conspiracy to cause grievous bodily.
Brit murder suspect Kevin Leon Wooden was extradited to the UK after being arrested abroad
The prosecutor told the court: “After he was kidnapped, he was falsely imprisoned – he was placed in a white Peugeot Boxer van and he was driven to Merseyside.
“In Merseyside he was tortured and he was caused really serious harm. As part of that torture his body was set on fire.
“After he was subjected to that torture, his body is likely to have been dumped in a remote rural location.
“Miraculously he was able to walk to the home of strangers who saw the state he was in and who called for an ambulance.”
The court heard that it was planned that Samel would: “would be taken to a remote location where he would be taught a lesson.”
Jones and Kozlowski are alleged to have been present when Samel was tortured and set on fire while Wooden and Arthur were recruited to be part of the planning, the prosecutor claimed.
The brutal torture was linked to the seizure of illicit and counterfeit cigarettes which had been smuggled into the UK from Poland.
The victim had a unit in Elkington Street, Aston, Birmingham, the court heard, where HM Revenue and Customs seized the cigarettes in February, 2019.
Paramedics who arrived at the horror scene said Samel’s genitals “had been the area which had been targeted the most by fire”, the court was told.
Samel reportedly suffered 75 per cent burns during the ordeal, which cops called “one of the most horrific” they had ever encountered.
The Crown’s KC said Samel, who died despite the best efforts of medics at Whiston Hospital in Prescot, is believed to have been naked and in a seated position when he was set alight.
Jones has pleaded guilty to manslaughter, conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to falsely imprison.
Wooden, Arthur and Kozlowski all deny manslaughter.
Kozlowski further denies conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to falsely imprison.
Jones, Wooden and Arthur have admitted conspiracy to falsely imprison and conspiracy to kidnap.
Wooden allegedly fled the country after the horror unfolded, when a £10,000 bounty was put on his head.
Dominican Republic cops have since extradited Wooden to the UK after West Midlands Police released a photo of the suspect.
Dominican Republic police revealed they had arrested Wooden in July 2025.
He was reportedly held on an international arrest warrant issued by Mexican authorities – who were hunting him over a separate alleged child kidnapping.
Technology & Business Editor
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
