Restaurant worker beat and robbed man in Leeds city centre to fund spiralling crack addiction

Grzegorz Gawrys became hooked on the deadly drug after his relationship broke down, which culminated in him helping to beat and rob a man in the city centre to steal his wallet. The 36-year-old then used the man’s stolen bank cards to pay for items.

Prosecuting the case at Leeds Crown Court, Bashir Ahmed said the victim had been drinking on a night out and on his way home when he was approached by three men close to the Tesco Express on Bond Street who demanded he hand over his possessions.

When he refused, the men, which included Gawrys, attacked him, kicking and punching him on the floor, before reaching into his pocket and taking his wallet. A short time later his bank cards were used, including at a Shell Garage in Beeston. CCTV from the scene of the attack, and from the garage, helped identify Gawrys.

He was already on bail for three shoplifting offences in January in which he went into Syrenka on Dewsbury Road and stole £60 worth of spirits, and then in Primark in Leeds 12 days later and tried to steal £132 worth of clothing.

In April he had been accompanied by a female as they tried to steal £140 worth of items from Asda in the Owlcotes Centre in Pudsey. Overall, he admitted three counts of theft, one of robbery and one of fraud by false representation.

Gawrys, formerly of Wyther Park Hill, Armley, but now of no fixed address has three previous convictions for seven offences.

A probation report found that the dad-of-two had been working at a restaurant in Leeds, but his life fell apart after his 12-year marriage came to and end and he began taking drugs in October of last year.

His barrister, Caroline Abraham said his early guilty pleas were his best mitigation, and his few convictions were all related to his drug habit. She said he ”expressed deep remorse” and had since got clean from drugs while being held on remand. Judge Ray Singh jailed him for 40 months.