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Pictured: 'The cardboard coffin woman' who was 'buried alive by her ex'... and the engagement ring she used to free herself
By Rob Cooper
This is the cardboard 'coffin' a terrified mother was buried inside as she was trapped face down in a shallow grave.
Michelina Lewandowska, 27, used her engagement ring to escape from the box which had soil and a heavy branch piled on top to stop her getting out.
Today she told a jury that she was sure Marcin Kasprzak, 25, was going to kill her when she was dumped in a wood near Huddersfield, West Yorkshire.
Miss Lewandowska said she was inside the box for an hour - half an hour in the woodland - before she was able to get out.
She told the jury at Leeds Crown Court yesterday how she prayed to God as she struggled to get out and used her engagement ring to free herself.
It is alleged that her partner Kasprzak attacked her with a Taser stun gun at their home in Huddersfield and then bound and gagged her with tape.
Today, Miss Lewandowska told the court: 'I am sure that he was going to kill me.'
Julian Goose QC, for Kasprzak, suggested to her that his client had only ever intended to scare her and reminded her that the box she was put in had two hand holes through which she could breathe.
'Shallow grave': The spot where the Polish mother was dumped by her boyfriend in a wood in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire
Miss Lewandowska said: 'I can tell you now that they (the holes) were not left specially or intentionally for me to live.'
Kasprzak, who is Polish, is on trial alongside, Patryk Borys, 18. Both deny attempted murder.
Cross-examining Miss Lewandowska, Mr Goose said: 'We accept what happened to you that day, that night, was very frightening. You were made to feel very scared and we don't dispute that a Taser was used on you, that your wrists and your ankles were taped and, at times, there was tape to your mouth.
We don't dispute either that you were put into that box and that you were taken to that scene.
'Let me be clear.
Makeshift coffin': The box Michelina Lewandowska was buried alive inside before soil and a heavy box was piled on top to stop her escaping
 
Escape: The mother, 27, used the jewel on her engagement ring, pictured, to escape from the 'grave'
Accused: Patryk Borys denies attempting to kill the mother
Accused: Patryk Borys denies attempting to kill the mother
'We say that the intention was to scare you - to frighten you off, leaving Jakub behind. And it was not with the intention to kill you.'
Miss Lewandowska told the court how the Taser attack left her with a red mark on her neck and for two weeks after the incident 'I couldn't normally breathe, I couldn't normally move, I couldn't sleep.'
She told the jury how she tried to tear the box apart using her shoulders as she tried to breathe the oxygen left inside the box.
'At first I only took out my hand, being afraid that Marcin could hit me with the spade,' she said.
'Then I took out my whole arm to the elbow. I started to feel about - to feel what was on the box.'
David Hatton QC, for Borys, asked Miss Lewandowska about his client's involvement in the incident on May 28.
She said: 'I'm not blaming Patryk for anything that happened. I think he was deceived in the same way that I was.
'He was not fully aware of the things Marcin was going to do.'
Prosecutors have told the court that Miss Lewandowska was attacked by Kasprzak because their relationship had come to an end and he wanted their three-year-old son, Jakub.
After escaping the woods she managed to flag down a passing motorist.
Miss Lewandowska, who is Polish and spoke through an interpreter, described how she managed to pull the box apart and get out.
Prosecutors have told the jury: 'In a nutshell, this case is about a young man who got bored with his partner, the mother of his child, and he decided to get rid of her.'
The trial was adjourned until Friday.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-20...l#ixzz1ft0nsM96
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