Killer gang GUILTY of kidnapping dad-of-two before setting him on fire & dumping body 100 miles away

FOUR gang members have been found guilty of killing a dad who was kidnapped before being set on fire in a torture campaign. Tomasz Samel, 45, was snatched in 2019 in Birmingham by men claiming to be from Interpol. Samel suffered 75 per cent burns during the ‘horrific’ ordeal Credit: BPM A photo of Wooden was released in 2019 by police Credit: West Midlands Police Tomasz, who was the subject of an international arrest warrant, was then driven to the Liverpool area and attacked, prosecutors told the court. He was dumped alive in a remote location 100 miles away and died in hospital three months later, Birmingham Crown Court heard. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! Tobiasz Kozlowski, 38, and Neil Jones, 48, were today convicted of murder, while Kevin Wooden, 46, and Kye Arthur, 35, were found guilty of manslaughter. All four had previously admitted conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to falsely imprison, and will be sentenced on October 9. Kozlowski’s wife Sandra Kozlowska, 38, was found guilty of assisting an offender by helping him to avoid detection by police. Birmingham Crown Court heard Wooden fled the country after a £10,000 bounty was put on his head. Dominican Republic cops extradited Wooden to the UK six years after West Midlands Police released a photo of the suspect while appealing for information leading to his arrest. The court heard the gang plotted to take Tomasz to a remote location “where he would be taught a lesson.” Most read in The Sun The brutal torture was linked to the seizure of illicit and counterfeit cigarettes which had been smuggled into the UK from Poland. The victim had a unit in Aston, Birmingham, the court heard, where HM Revenue and Customs seized the cigarettes in February, 2019. The prosecutor told the court: “After he was kidnapped, he was falsely imprisoned – he was placed in a white Peugeot Boxer van and he was driven to Merseyside. “In Merseyside he was tortured and he was caused really serious harm. As part of that torture his body was set on fire. “After he was subjected to that torture, his body is likely to have been dumped in a remote rural location. “Miraculously he was able to walk to the home of strangers who saw the state he was in and who called for an ambulance.” Paramedics who arrived at the horror scene said Samel’s genitals “had been the area which had been targeted the most by fire”, the court was told. Samel reportedly suffered 75 per cent burns during the ordeal, which cops called “one of the most horrific” they had ever encountered. The Crown’s KC said Samel, who died despite the best efforts of medics at Whiston Hospital in Prescot, is believed to have been naked and in a seated position when he was set alight. Dominican Republic police revealed they had arrested Wooden in July 2025. He was reportedly held on an international arrest warrant issued by Mexican authorities – who were hunting him over a separate alleged child kidnapping. This warrant related to Wooden disappearing with his Colombian-born daughter Khadija Alexandria Alvarez Bonilla, now four, when she was just seven months old. At the time of his arrest, local authorities said a Mexican woman had also been held and that three children were “rescued” – but they did not confirm if one of them was Khadija. Kate Seal, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “This was a brutal attack on a man who was kidnapped from his own home and subjected to horrendous violence. “The CPS worked closely with West Midlands Police throughout this lengthy and complex investigation to pursue lines of enquiry and build a case using forensic, digital and witness evidence. “Our thoughts remain with Mr Samel’s family, who have endured unimaginable suffering, including witnessing his abduction from their family home. I hope these verdicts provide some measure of closure and reassurance that justice has been achieved.”