Wolverhampton murder accused stands by abuse allegations

Dawid Arent, 33, is on trial accused of headbutting and punching his father, in Horden Road, Whitmore Reans, on September 18 last year, moments after accusing him of beating his mother and verbally abusing him and his siblings in Poland.

Marek Arent, 73, fell over in a neighbouring garden where the defendant punched him a second time. He never got up and died in hospital the next day from a brain injury.

Giving evidence in the witness box at Wolverhampton Crown Court the defendant was asked by defence barrister Mr Justin Rouse KC how he felt about his father being dead. Speaking through an interpreter Arent replied: "It is indescribable."

Mr Rouse then asked him: "How about what you said about your childhood?"

The defendant paused then replied: "I'm not proud of what I was saying. I said what I said and I regret that very much. I stand by what I said."

The jury was previously played security camera recordings of the defendant shouting and swearing at the victim in Polish which was subsequently translated for the police investigation. The court was also shown footage of the defendant buying cans of lager.

Arent, an electro-plater, told the jury they spent the day together with his partner and that it was also his birthday. But the mood changed after his father asked him to do more for the family back home.

"We had dinner and had a talk, but it turned into an argument. He was acting like an old gossip, complaining about what was going on at home and saying no-one was taking care of the situation.

"When we went out the second time it was to buy alcohol and he was saying that I wasn't interested in what was going on in my own house and that no-one was supporting them in Poland," he told the jury.

"The conversation was about my younger brother Darek and when he came here to England. That was at a time when I had met my wife and trying to help my parents. He returned to Poland."

He told the jury that he could not afford for his brother to stay and there was no space in the flat for him. He said his father's reaction was "hard for me to understand" and that he said "I didn't care about family".

The defendant said that day was the first time in five years that he had drunk alcohol. He also told the jury that he had been an army reservist in Poland, but had no formal military training.

The jury had also previously heard evidence by prosecution witness Peter Gardener-Newman who said he saw the victim being struck with a "hard punch" delivered as though the defendant had fighting skills.

Dawid Arent, of Horden Road, denies murder. The trial continues.