Thugs who 'savagely' beat academic until he was 'unrecognisable' jailed for 64 years

Paul Kohler, 55, was left with a fractured eye socket, fracture to his left jawbone, a broken nose and bruising that left him "utterly unrecognisable" during the raid in Wimbledon, south London.

The four attackers rained blows on the academic and his wife Samantha MacArthur, 50, on the night of August 11 last year. 

A flame thrower was found in the raiders’ car and Mr Kohler, a friend of Prince Edward from their time together at Jesus College in Cambridge, suspects they planned to torture him with it.

His daughter Eloise secretly phoned police to alert them to the intruders.

Today the gang of Polish nationals - three of whom were allowed into Britain after serving jail terms in their home country - were all handed prison sentences at Kingston Crown Court.

As the sentencing hearing began yesterday, Mr Kohler said in his witness statement that the attack "had nothing to do with immigration".

Pawel Honc, of no fixed address, and Mariusz Tomaszewski, of Crusoe Road, Mitcham, south London, were both sentenced to 19 years in jail after admitting grievous bodily harm with intent and aggravated burglary.

Oskar Pawlowicz, of Pitcairn Road in Mitcham, and Dawid Tychon, 29, of no fixed address, were both sentenced to 13 years after they pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary.

Sentencing the men, Judge Susan Tapping said they had targeted Mr Kohler's house either because they had the expectation of finding items of "significant value" to steal or because they chose the wrong address to collect a debt.

Mr Kohler, who was flanked by his wife and three of his four daughters - Eloise, Beth and Saskia - held his jaw and watched the men intently as they were given their sentence.

Mr Kohler, who is head of law at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London, hugged his daughters and wife and smiled afterwards.

Honc, 24, Tomaszewski, 32, Pawlowicz, 30, and Tychon, 29, all remained calm as they were sent down.

Tychon, Tomaszewski, and Pawlowicz, all served time in Poland for violent crimes.

Pawlowicz had also previously been handed a suspended sentence at ­Birmingham Crown Court for a sex assault.

Judge Tapping said that all the defendants had been under a combination of drugs and alcohol on the day of the attack on Mr Kohler, who also owns a bar in Covent Garden, central London.

Referring to the witness statement the academic gave yesterday, Judge Tapping said that it had shown his "generosity of spirit".

Mr Kohler had said in his witness statement: “The pointless ferocity and utter senselessness endangered my family’s peace of mind, my physical and our psychological well-being and risked fomenting issues within the wider community both in Wimbledon and beyond.”

But he warned the attack had “allowed some to push an anti-Polish agenda which sullied the name of a proud and honourable nation”.

He added:“I would, on behalf of my family, like to finish by thanking our many well-wishers, both within and beyond the Polish community, and to stress that the actions of the perpetrators had nothing to do with immigration, and were simply an example of mindless thuggery.”

Judge Tapping today told the defendants: "One matter it contained was for you to explain why his family and him were targeted.

"This explanation would help them all but your mitigation did not help at all or was at odds with what others had said.

"Without this explanation he understandably questions the true value of any remorse expressed."