A 44-year-old man has denied unlawfully killing a trucker at a city region transport depot.
Rafal Seremak, of no fixed address but from Wolomin in Poland, appeared at Chester Crown Court today where he pleaded not guilty to separate counts of murder and manslaughter over the death of Miroslaw Iwaniuk, 50.
Judge Michael Leeming, presiding, agreed a pre-trial hearing date of January 4 with prosecutor John Benson, QC, appearing via videolink, and defence counsel Gordon Cole, QC, present in court.
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A trial date, already provisionally scheduled, was reaffirmed for Monday, January 24 with an estimate of up to 10 days.
Discussions took place over agreeing and obtaining evidence including CCTV and the deceased’s medical records, and securing the services of interpreters.
Seremak, wearing a black jacket, burgundy shirt and glasses, was produced from custody for the hearing, and spoke from a secure dock via an interpreter to enter his pleas.
He was remanded back into custody at the end of the session.
The case relates to an incident on Wednesday, August 4, involving an “altercation” at a transport depot on Brindley Road on Astmoor Industrial Estate in Runcorn.
A Cheshire Constabulary spokeswoman said at the time that Mr Iwaniuk was taken to Warrington Hospital by ambulance but died.
She said the case did not involve weapons.
Seremak was arrested and subsequently charged with murder and appeared at North Cheshire Magistrates’ Court on Saturday, August 7, with manslaughter added to an amended indictment at a later stage.
Police told the ECHO in the week following the incident, and which was repeated by prosecution and defence barristers in court today, that the cause of Mr Iwaniuk’s death, following post mortem examination, was deemed to be traumatic back and neck injury with cardiomegaly, meaning an enlarged heart.
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