Labourer punched Leeds landlord over eviction threat

Cezary Ryfczynski got into a brawl with the man after confronting him at the property on Bellbrooke Grove in Burmantofts.

The landlord had been at the property had been with his two children, aged 10 and 12, when Ryfczynski appeared in the kitchen and picked up a laptop that was on the side.

Ryfczynski then swore at the man and began punching him to the face, prosecutor Jade Edwards told Leeds Crown Court.

The computer was damaged in the scuffle, before Ryfczynski left the house accompanied by a woman and began shouting at the landlord that they were going to smash his windows and burn the building down.

The children filmed the pair walking away and making the threats.

An impact statement from the victim said his children are still scared and struggle to sleep after witnessing the attack.

He was also left with pain to his teeth after being punched.

The incident happened on September 15, 2019, but had taken years to reach court because Ryfczynski, of Harehills Lane, Leeds, had denied an initial charge of burglary.

He was due to stand trial this week, but admitted a charge of assault and criminal damage which was accepted by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Ryfczynski said he had two previous convictions, including a drink-driving offence in Sweden, and assault in his native Poland.

Mitigating, Stuart Field told the court that the 33-year-old had come to the UK five years ago from Poland and had found work in the construction industry.

He said had had gone to the property that day to confront the landlord after trying to evict his friend.

He said: “He thought it was unfair and went to challenge the complainant about it.

"It’s difficult to argue with what the complainant has said in his victim impact statement, the fact it took place in his property and there were children property.

"But he has not been in trouble since this offence and won’t be troubling the courts again.”

The judge, Recorder Robert Ward gave him a 12-month community order with 160 hours of unpaid work, and told him he also needed to pay compensation for the damage he caused to the laptop.