Category: Thame news

THE POLICE have issued a further appeal for information after suspicious activity was reported in the area around a fire damaged hotel in the early hours of last Sunday morning.
PC Russell Hounslow of the Thame Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “Our house-to-house inquiries revealed that between 2am and 4am on Sunday, around six men were seen throwing objects at the hotel and then running away along Chinnor Road towards the town centre.
“They are aged between 18 and 28-years-old; one was wearing a white top and long socks which he wore over his trousers.
“I appeal to anyone who may know who the offenders are to contact police immediately.”

Anyone with information that could assist police inquiries is urged to contact PC Hounslow via Thames Valley Police Enquiry Centre on 0845 8 505 505. If you don?t want to speak to police or leave your name contact the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.

IN the trial of Jolanta Kalinowsica and associates, in connection with the murder and attempted destruction of the body of Thea Zaudy, Lukasz Gajda gave evidence today, and not Adrian Lis, as we reported would happen yesterday.
Several differences between the alleged murderer, Kalinowsica’s and Gajda’s version of events leading up to the dumping of Thea Zaudy’s body in a suitcase at a site just outside Thame, and its burning, emerged today.
It was Gajda’s car that was used to transport the body of Mrs Zaudy from Ealing Broadway to Milton Common.
He told the jury today at Oxford Crown Court that it was not until he pulled off the M40 at junction seven, that he was told by Kalinowsica that the purpose of the journey was to burn documents for which her rich employer was to pay her

THE POLICE are treating as suspicious, a fire that severely damaged the Essex House hotel, in Thame, on Sunday morning (02/03).
More than 40 firefighters were called to the burning hotel in Chinnor Road, Thame, at around 6.30am, where they found that the fire had spread from the second floor, to the first storey and the roof of the building.
Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue’s Group manager, Richard Bowley, who was on scene, said: “We had to use the hydraulic platform to tackle the fire from above as there was a risk of the building collapsing on top of us.
“Thankfully the property is detached so the fire didn’t affect any other buildings and no one had to be evacuated from their homes.”
Mr Bowley added: “There are reports of people being seen in the vicinity in the early hours of the morning and we are now working with Thames Valley Police to ascertain the cause.”

The hotel had been empty for the past two weeks ahead of its planned demolition to develop the site into two, two-story apartment blocks.

Anyone who may have seen anything or has any information is asked to call Thames Valley Police on 08458 505505 or speak anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

FIRE Investigation personel are currently at the site of the Essex House hotel in Thame, which was destroyed by fire during the night (02/03)
Planning permission was recently granted to demolish the hotel and build a two-storey apartment block in its place.
More information as soon as it becomes available.

A 19 year-old woman accused of assisting an alleged murderer to clean up a crime scene, has denied sitting on the lid of a suitcase to force the victim’s corpse to fit inside.
Monilca Sienkiewicz’s lover’s mother made the claim in evidence heard at their trial in connection with the murder of 94 year-old Thea Zaudy, whose charred remains were found in a field near Thame, last July.

‘WET WASHING’ CLAIM

Today from the witness stand, Monilca Sienkiewicz denied that she was involved in anyway in putting, what she says she had been told was ‘wet laundry’ into a suitcase. She maintained that she waited in a burger bar near Nottinghill station for between 20-30 minutes, while her boyfriend, Adrian Lis and his mother, Jolanta Kalinowsica, went back to Mrs Zaudy’s flat to get wet washing to take back to their home to wash. She said that she often saw Mrs Zaudy’s washing at their own home in Cavendish Walk, because she had to iron it.

MORE DENIALS

Sienkewicz also denied knowing where the other two went with a fourth defendant, Lukasz Gajda, in his car, with the case of wet washing, after she left them at Ealing Broadway tube station to go back home by herself.
Although shown on a shopping spree with Kalinowsica and Lis, Siekewicz denied noticing whether Kalinowsica, who made all the financial transactions, paid with Mrs Zaudy’s or anyone else’s bank card or cash. She said that Mrs Kalinowsica told her she had saved up the money to buy presents for her family. When it was suggested she must have been shocked to see Kalinowsica spend over

POLICE are appealing for witnesses after a collision on the M40 northbound between junction 6 for Lewknor and junction 7 for Thame this morning (27/2) at 2.06am.
A German articulated lorry collided with a Polish articulated lorry, thought to have been stationary in the hardshoulder at the time.

A German man, aged in his forties, suffered fatal injuries as a result of the collision and died at the scene.

Sgt Jack Hawkins, from Bicester Roads Policing said: ?I am appealing for anyone who might have seen either vehicle prior to the collision.

?The motorway was shut for around four hours while the scene was investigated and now one lane is closed while recovery of the vehicles takes place.

?If anyone saw this accident and has not spoken to the police it is vital they do so, so we can ascertain what the cause of the collision was.?

Anyone who may have witnessed the crash or has any information which could help the police with their inquiries is urged to contact Sgt Hawkins at Bicester Roads Policing Department via 0845 8 505 505. If you don?t want to talk to the police or give your name, call the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.

A 41 year-old mother-of-four, accused of murdering her elderly employer for money, became tearful and emotional today, after five hours of vigorous cross examination on the eighth day of her trial.
Jolanta Kalinowsica is accused of murdering 94 year-old Thea Zaudy and helping to dispose of the corpse by dumping it and setting fire to it in a field near Thame, in July last year (2007).

In response to questioning by the Prosecution, she consistantly ‘bad-mouthed’ fellow defendant Monilca Sienkiewicz, the girlfriend of her son, Adrian Lis – both accused of helping Kalinowsica dispose of Mrs Zaudy’s body. She accused Siekievicz of being lazy, of trying to lure her son away from the family home in Ealing and of having an affair with the fourth defendant, Lukasz Gajda. She denied that she wanted the girl to go back to Poland because she was jealous of her son’s relationship.

INCONSISTANCIES

Kalinowsica was asked about several points she made in giving evidence in court, things she had failed to mention at the time of her statement to the police. These included:
a)That she had denied to the police buying a suitcase, yet in giving evidence said she DID buy it -for a family trip to Legoland. She said she did not admit to its purchase because she thought Gajda might have stolen some tools and used it.

b)That she told the police about every visit she had made to Mrs Zaudy’s flat throughout the period Mrs Zaudy was missing and the days following her death (on July 11) – except the visit she made on the evening of July 11, and another on July 12, when the body must have been collected.

c)That she did not tell the police about her use of Mrs Zaudy’s debit card.

d)That she did not mention in her statement the arrangement with Gajda to hide the laptops and other items she bought (“for family presents”) which in her evidence today she said was the reason for asking for Gajda’s help.

POLICE ‘MESSED WITH MY HEAD’

Kalinowsica said in court that she stopped answering police questions when the focus turned to bank cards because she was felt intimidated by the police questioning, accusing them of “messing with my head.” She broke into tears as she told how her young son was “ripped” from her when she was arrested and how her children were screaming in the background from another room when she was being interviewed.

In her statement Kalinowsica had said that Lukasz Gajda had dropped her off somewhere whilst he “dealt with the corpse in the suitcase” but under cross examination, she said that she had put wet washing into the suitcase and that she was under the impression that Gajda had picked up some tools from somewhere and put them in the suitcase, in the boot of the car.

DIARY ENTRIES

Kalinowsica was questioned closely by both the Prosecution and Judge Hall about what were described as ‘higgledy piggledy’ entries in a diary that, it was suggested, were put in at a later date to support her story. She denied that was the case, saying that she used a complicated system of recording money transactions to confuse her husband, who she said was always snooping into her affairs.

MYSTERY OF ‘FALSE’ ALARM CALLS

The witness was asked about the two alarm calls made within five minutes of each other, on the day of Mrs Zaudy’s death from a personal alarm that the dead woman used to wear around her neck – one a silent call and the other with the voice of Kalinowsica herself saying that she had accidentally activated it whilst cleaning.
Kalinowsica explained that she found it on the floor whilst cleaning and picked it up and put it in her pocket. She said that she must have accidentally set it off. She said that she did not reply to the first call from the alarm call centre because she thought it was a fire alarm going off because she was smoking while vacuuming. The second call, she said, she heard from Mrs Zaudy’s office.

PROSECUTION’S SCENARIO

The Crown Prosecutor suggested that Kalinowsica had a confrontation with Mrs Zaudy about money (he had earlier refuted that she was ‘flush’ with money and in a position to lend money to her wealthy employer) and that perhaps her employer had accused her of stealing.
“..and you got angry and assaulted her, hit her around the head and put your hands around her throat. She might, briefly have had a chance to activate the alarm? She couldn’t say anything and while dropping to the floor dead, you would have to recover the alarm maybe from under her body so that when you picked it up, it went off? You then told the alarm people, you did it while cleaning?
“The next day you needed help because you knew you could not get the body away from the flat alone?
The Prosecution barrister concluded, “You are responsible for the death of Mrs Zaudy and for the disposal of her corpse. You carried the petrol.”

The case continues tomorrow.

Photo: a suitcase resembling that claimed to be similar to the one used to transport the body of murdered Thea Zaudy to a field near Thame, and set fire to in an attempt to destroy the body.

A PLAN to ensure the future economic health of Thame should include better facilities for young people, a community centre and facilities to attract visitors to the town.
These are just some of the findings presented to the town council on Tuesday (24/02/09) by economic development officers from South Oxfordshire District Council.

The Market Town Action Plan For Thame, designed to help “create vibrant market conditions” in the town is all part of a strategy to help the three struggling market towns in South Oxfordshire. It has been arrived at following a series of local events and feedback from workshops involving all interested groups or ‘stakeholders’ across the district.

It was made clear that the priorities for the next three years, starting in April 2009, were for the district council to work with partnerships and higher bodies through training and other events, and using consultants, to gather data about who visits Thame, why they come, what makes Thame distinctive from other towns, what are its good qualities and its weaknesses and to look at economic indicators of the town’s economic health.

A Town Centre Co-ordinator is to be employed for the three market towns, Thame, Henley and Wallingford to look at things like a possible Mid-Somer Murders trail to attract visitors to Thame and Wallingford, and look at other ways of marketing the towns.

The cost of the initial actions are:

Tourism survey –

Police are appealing for witnesses after a Thame motorcyclist was killed in a crash this morning (26/2).
The collision happened around 8am on the Portway Road, between Haddenham and Bishopstone, near the Bugle Horn pub.

The man, 42-year-old Michael (Mick) Inceman from Thame, was pronounced dead at the scene, after his green Kawasaki ZX 1000 motorbike collided with a green Renault Masters Van.

PC Matt Braddish, investigating the incident, said: ?I would like to speak to anyone who witnessed the collision or saw the vehicles prior to the incident as their information may prove vital in helping with our enquiries.?

PC Braddish can be contacted at Aylesbury police station via the 24-hour Police Enquiry Centre on 0845 8 505 505 or, if you don?t want to talk to police or give your name, call the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.

You can also give information to the police in person by visiting any police station. To find out the opening times and location of your local station please call 0845 8 505 505 or visit: www.thamesvalley.police.uk/bcu/buckinghamshire/bcu-info/stations.htm