A man who tried to murder a stranger by pushing her onto the tracks at King’s Cross tube station is facing jail. Arthur Hawrylewicz, 41, pulled Maria Osifeso into a bear hug and swung her around as the Hammersmith and City train approached on August 29 last year.
Ms Osifeso, who was on her way to Notting Hill carnival in west London with friends, was traumatised by the incident and says she now stands with her back against the wall at train stations or waits at the top of the stairs until the train arrives. Polish-born Hawrylewicz previously denied attempted murder but changed his plea to guilty on the first day of trial.
Inner London Crown Court heard Hawrylewicz was “heavily intoxicated” and suicidal at the time. Prosecutor Sukwinder Dhadda said CCTV did not capture the incident but shows Hawrylewicz on the platform 20 minutes before he tried to push Ms Osifeso onto the tracks at 1pm.
She said: “Ms Osifaso was on that platform with a few of her friends. They were heading over to Notting Hill Carnival. The defendant went up to her and said something to her. She wasn’t really able to understand what it was he was saying, no doubt because of the language barrier, and she formed the view he was slightly intoxicated and asked him to go away and she wasn’t interested.
“She then continued talking to her friends and she noticed the defendant was staring at her and the group she was with. Very quickly thereafter, one of her friends alerted them to the fact the train was coming. She started walking slightly more towards the edge of the platform and it was at that stage she felt the defendant’s arms wrapped around her waist she described it as a bear hug style grip.
“He lifted her off the floor, swung her around and it was at this point her male friends intervened and were able to release his grip.”
Alexia Nicol, defending Hawrylewicz, said her client was “seriously contemplating taking his own life that day” and has “no recollection” of the incident.
The court heard Hawrylewicz “took a 17 second video of himself” on his phone shortly before the incident in which he says: “I want to say sorry to all of you. F****** hell I have to do it. Goodbye.”
He also sent messages to friends and partners suggesting he was about to take his own life, Ms Nicol said. Ms Dhadda said his blood alcohol reading was “in the likely region of 298 micrograms of alcohol in 100ml blood” - around three and a half times the drink-drive limit of 80mcg.
She added: “This young lady is still suffering quite significantly. She’s hyper aware, she stands with her back to the wall, holding the railings. She says she stays at the top of stairs until she sees a train on the platform and she has flashbacks of the incident.”
Judge Benedict Kelleher told Hawrylewicz it was a long custodial sentence was “inevitable”.
He was remanded into custody and will be sentenced on April 24.
