Polish man in court on attempted murder charges

A POLISH man extradited to the UK to face charges of attempting to murder a Wisbech woman appeared before magistrates today (Wednesday).

Daniel Tomczak, 27, is accused of attempting to murder the 23-year-old office worker on February 3 last year. He was brought back to the UK on Tuesday after police obtained an international arrest warrant.

He is also accused of attempting to choke, to suffocate or strangle her, to enable himself to commit a burglary.

A third charge alleges burglary, that he entered the woman's home in Milner Road, Wisbech, as a trespasser and stole a Nokia mobile phone, a silver coloured Sanyo DVD player, a CD player and speakers, and a person in the building was subjected to violence.

Tomczak is also accused of assaulting the woman, causing her actual bodily harm.

The Polish national was sent to appear before a judge at Cambridge Crown Court for a preliminary hearing on Friday and remanded in custody.

At an emotional press conference after the attack the woman fought back tears as she spoke of the night an intruder burst into her bedroom and throttled her until she fell unconscious. The intruder left a silver chain necklace which fell off during the assault and left traces of DNA when the woman cut him in the struggle.

In her panic to get away she scrambled out of a first floor window smashing her foot into another window on the way down. With glass embedded in her feet she ran down the road to her parents' home.

The breakthrough in the hunt for her attacker is thought to have occurred earlier this year when a man was found acting suspiciously in a doorway in Wisbech town centre. Police took samples of DNA which led them onto the trail of Tomczak.

When police went to arrest him he had returned to Poland, and an international arrest warrant issued.