A man has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of a mother who was stabbed to death in her home while her husband listened helplessly on the phone. Marcin Porczynski, 24, attacked Nicola Cross at her house in Hemel Hempstead on 14 September last year, stabbing her ten times in the torso. Her two children were asleep upstairs at the time.
St Albans Crown Court heard that Porczynski, a Polish car mechanic, had paranoid schizophrenia and may have been hearing voices in the two years before the killing. He pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter with diminished responsibility. He also admitted burglary and aggravated burglary but denied two counts of kidnap.
Cross’s husband, Daniel, was on a business trip in Hull when his wife called him after Porczynski banged on her door. Police had earlier attended but released him. As the defendant broke in, Cross told her husband to hold on while she investigated. He heard her scream: “Get out of my house, what do you want?” followed by further screams and a male voice saying: “I do, I do.” Then it went quiet.
In a victim impact statement read to the court, Daniel Cross said: “I see no future happiness, I see no end to this trauma until my own life comes to an end.” He added: “When Marcin Porczynski killed Nik, he killed one person, but destroyed numerous other lives.” He described their life before as “almost sickeningly perfect” and said he would never forgive himself for not being there to protect her.
The court heard that Porczynski attempted to leave the house with the two children after the attack. He had no previous mental health record, and traces of cocaine and cannabis were found in his blood, but the prosecution psychiatrist did not believe this affected his actions. Porczynski has been detained at Rampton high security hospital and will be sentenced on Monday.
