A 14-year-old boy yelled “I’m going to wet you” before stabbing a teenager to death in a “trivial” dispute over a girl, a court heard.
Tomasz Oleszac, also 14, was walking with friends in a nature reserve near his home in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, when he came across the other boy walking with his girlfriend.
Newcastle Crown Court heard how in a brief but deadly exchange, the attacker, now 15 years old but cannot be identified for legal reasons, drew a knife from his jacket pocket and delivered a fatal blow to Tomasz.
Tragically, the 8 cm deep stab wound ended the life of the young Tomasz.
The incident occurred on October 4 of last year in the Whitehills Nature Park next to the Springwell estate, where Tomasz lived.
Prosecutor Mark McKone, KC, read a statement from a friend of the victim in court as the young witness described what happened.
The boy said: ‘I heard the suspect yell ‘I’m going to wet you’, it’s slang for ‘I’m going to stab you’.
The 14-year-old boy died in hospital after being found with a stab wound in the Aycliffe Crescent area of the Springwell Estate of Gateshead on Monday evening.
The teenager, who came to England from Poland in search of a “better life”, leaves behind his mother Kamila, his father Patryk and a little brother.
The scene at Aycliffe Crescent, Gateshead, last year following the fatal attack on the nature reserve.
“There must have been some sort of argument with Tom and (another child) and the suspect… I think I turned around and then I saw him pulling the sword out of Tom.”
Mr McKone said: “The prosecution says that the phrase ‘I’m going to wet you’ is the phrase of someone wanting to stab someone and not the words of someone acting reluctantly in self-defense.”
Another young witness described what the term the attacker used meant, telling police: “I didn’t see it because I was in the back, but I heard someone yell ‘your child has been wet’. It means ‘your child has been stabbed.” “.’
Describing the fateful event last year, Mr. McKone said: “The defendant had a conflict with other young people in a park over something trivial.
‘It appears that the defendant had said something to the youths and/or given them a dirty look, although this was before Tomasz arrived.
‘The defendant was with his girlfriend, who had previously dated a member of the group.
“The prosecution accepts that someone had said that the defendant was going to be beaten and that a group had approached him.”
The prosecutor went on to say: ‘The defendant stabbed a young man, Tomasz Oleszak, who died shortly after being stabbed. Tomasz was still 14 years old.
‘The defendant tried to stab another young man, but luckily only his coat was stabbed.
“Tomasz was part of a large group of about 10 people, although he only joined the group at a late stage and shortly before he was stabbed.”
Tomasz’s death left the Gateshead community in shock, with dozens of people paying tribute to the popular and talented footballer. Pictured is a letter left for the teen.
Floral tributes were left on the street last year, when the community came to terms with the murder of the 14-year-old girl.
McKone added that one of the teenage witnesses in Tomasz’s group described what he saw, saying: “The witness saw the defendant, whom he did not know, with a girl who had been dating another witness.”
The defendant and the girl were walking through the park ahead of the group.
Meanwhile, Tomasz’s friend told the police: “We were walking and the guy yelled something at us.
Tomasz asked what he said. He didn’t answer so Tom went over to try to get him to say what he had said earlier. Tom walked up to him and that’s when he turned around, pulled the knife from a pocket around his chest, and lunged at Tom.
The boy also confirmed that he couldn’t actually see the weapon, the knife, as it was dark, but that the young man had used it in his right hand.
The young witness told police: “He was going to jump for Tom but as soon as he hit Tom he turned around and tried to hit me but I jumped back and he just took my coat.”
The knife went through his jacket but the boy was unharmed.
However, the young witness said that the boy with the knife was screaming at the time he used the knife, but he could not say what he was screaming at.
Mr McKone continued: ‘Tomasz tried to run away but collapsed. His friend ran to the nearest house for help. An ambulance was called.
“The defendant and his girlfriend fled from the group, which was about 10 meters behind when the stabbings took place.”
Tragically, Tomasz died from a single stab wound to the front of the chest, which was 8 cm deep and 4.5 cm wide.
The attacker denies Tomasz’s murder, attempted to seriously harm his friend and was carrying a prohibited weapon.
A police cordon was placed at Whitehills Nature Park last year, following the incident. Access to the park was restricted by the police who blocked the entrances.
Emergency crews were called to the Aycliffe Crescent area of the Springwell Estate just after 8pm on October 2022, where they found the teenager suffering from a stab wound.
He passed away on October 5, 2022, in the early morning hours.
The teenager, who came to England from Poland in search of a “better life”, leaves behind his mother Kamila, his father Patryk and a little brother.
When Tomasz was six years old, his family moved from Wroclaw, in southwestern Poland, to the United Kingdom.
The teenager was a keen soccer player and played for the local Cleveland Hall junior soccer team as a midfielder on the under-15 team.
Unfortunately, the knife completely severed the cartilage of the right third rib, requiring a reasonable amount of force, the court heard, with Mr McKone adding: “The direction of the stab wound was primarily backwards and slightly from right to left of the deceased child”. .
“The indictment says that the nature of the deep stab wound means that it was a deliberate stabbing rather than something that could happen simply by waving the knife around.”
After the stabbing, the defendant allegedly contacted his girlfriend and told her he did not have a knife, adding: “If someone messages you, don’t say anything, don’t say what apparently happened.”
He proceeded to bury the knife after the murder, the court heard.
McKone said the boy will claim he acted in self-defense because members of Tomasz’s group were the assailants in the incident and were attacking him.
He told the jury: ‘The defendant says he was attacked by a large number of young men, possibly five, who beat and kicked him and knocked him to the ground.
“The prosecution accepts that some members of the group moved towards him, but they do not accept that the defendant was punched and kicked.”
The attacker denies Tomasz’s murder, attempted to seriously harm his friend and was carrying a prohibited weapon.
The trial continues. It is expected to last at least 10 days and possibly until Easter weekend.
