LEEDS, England, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- A Polish man convicted in northern England of trying to kill his girlfriend by burying her alive was sentenced Friday to 20 years in prison.
Martin Kasprzak, 26, of Huddersfield was given the sentence for the attempted murder of Michelina Lewandowska, the Yorkshire Post reported. Judge Peter Collier said Kasprzak clearly intended to kill when he stunned Lewandowska with a Taser, placed her in a cardboard box and buried her in a wooded area with a large branch on top.
"The death you intended would have been long and slow. It is mind-numbingly awful to imagine the sort of death you intended her to die," the judge said Friday. "I must have regard to the uniquely chilling nature of this case. As I have already observed, being buried alive must be one of the most dreadful ways to die that anyone can imagine."
Lewandowska, the mother of Kasprzak's young son, used her engagement ring to cut herself out of the box and then dug her way to the surface.
Patryk Borys, 18, who was acquitted of attempted murder and admitted kidnapping, got 4 1/2 years as a young offender.
