Horrifying witness account of how gang of 12 teens beat Polish family man to death after hearing him chatting to pals
A witness said Arek Jozwik was shouting for help as the pack of youngsters beat him outside a pizza shop
A WITNESS to the killing of a Polish man - who was allegedly targeted for speaking a foreign language - has described seeing a gang attack him like a "pack of hyenas".
Arek Jozwik, 40, was attacked by a teenage mob as he chatted to Polish pals outside a pizza takeaway in Harlow, Essex.
Another man, a 43-year-old from Harlow who did not wish to be identified, told he had tried to help.
He said: "They were punching and kicking the man who was almost dragging them into the pizza shop, shouting for help.
"I could see bruises on his face.
"I managed to grab him away from the attacks and shouted for them to get out. They just hung around the outside the shop waiting for their victim to come out."
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Six boys aged 15 and 16 have been questioned over Arek's killing.
The brother of the Polish man claims he was attacked by the teenagers because they heard him speaking in his mother tongue.
Mr Jozwik died of head injuries after he and two Polish friends were beaten unconscious in the suspected hate crime.
Brother Radek, 36, said: “The police have told us he was attacked because they heard him and his friends speaking the Polish language.
“He was standing eating pizza and they picked on him. He does not speak much English. He really was a family person who spent a lot of time with my kids.”
It is thought around 20 teenagers, both boys and girls, began by abusing Arek and his mates before turning violent.
Radek said: “One of the teenagers started and then seconds later there are ten or 12 people attacking him."
Arek, a sausage factory worker, had been in the UK for four years.
Locals yesterday said the parade of shops in Harlow, Essex, where Arek was attacked on Saturday at around 11.30pm is plagued by a mob of up to 50 teenagers who smoke cannabis and intimidate passers-by.
An off licence owner said: “They pick on anyone. It’s a no-go zone at night.”
A worker at the pizza takeaway told how he tried to help Arek after the attack.
The worker said: “He was lying on the ground in a really bad way. There was blood coming from his ear.
“I pressed his hand but he was not responding.”
Arek had ordered pizza and then stood with his friends eating it outside the takeaway shop.
The worker said he thought they were taking the food home — and would have warned them about the gang had he known they planned to eat outside.
He added: “If they’d asked I’d have advised them to stay inside.”
The worker said police had been repeatedly warned about the gang.
He added: “After the attack police asked for a statement. I said, ‘You know them. Everybody complains to you and you don’t respond’.”
Six boys — five aged 15 and one 16-year-old — have been arrested and questioned on suspicion of murder. Four were released on bail.
The MP for Harlow, Robert Halfon, has declared that people who use the Brexit result to pursue their personal racist agendas "literally come from the sewers".
Visiting the scene with Polish ambassador Arkady Rzegocki, he said: "I believe that the vast majority of people who voted to leave the EU did for noble reasons.
"I do have a view that a very small minority - and I stress that these kinds of awful things are done by a minority - it (the referendum) is being used by people who come from the sewers who want to exploit division and have their own racist agenda.”
The Minister for Skills, and former Tory party deputy chairman, added: “They literally come from the sewers."
One of Arek’s friends, a man of 43, needed hospital treatment for fractured hands and a bruised stomach.
Police confirmed they had dealt with seven incidents of anti-social behaviour around the murder scene in August.
Anyone with information about assault is asked to contact the Harlow Major Investigation Team on 101.
Alternatively, they can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555111 or
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