‘Serial killer’ who killed ex-cop by Grand Union Canal, Aylesbury, caged

Sylwester Krajewski, 50, of no fixed address, murdered 63-year-old grandfather Clive Porter, a former community police officer in nearby Tring, in an unprovoked attack at the Grand Union Canal near Aylesbury on April 26, 2021.

Krajewski was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 35 years – meaning he will not leave jail until he is at least 85 years old.

Speaking at the sentencing hearing at Reading Crown Court this afternoon (Thursday), prosecutor Ross Cohen said: “This was a completely unprovoked and cold-blooded attack by a serial killer who has absconded from prison on a wholly innocent man who was simply doing his job.”

READ MORE: Bucks killer unmasked as Polish double murderer wanted by Interpol

Clive Porter was just doing his job when he was brutally murdered

The ‘Cold-blooded attack’

At around midday on April 26, 2021, Clive Porter was cycling along the Grand Union Canal just outside Aylesbury.

Mr Porter was working as a volunteer for the Canal and River Trust, and was travelling along the tow path, checking each boat had a valid licence and issuing fixed penalty notices to those that did not.

Krajewski, who lived on a canal boat called The Captain Goatheart, became infuriated when he saw Mr Porter placing a fixed penalty notice on the neighbouring boat, called The Frosty Jack. The court had heard during the trial that Krajewski held a grudge against the Canal and River Trust, and felt it should do more to improve the state of the waterway.

The attack took place on the tow path of the Grand Union Canal, Aylesbury

Seeing Mr Porter placing the notice on the next boat along, Krajewski confronted him, shouted at him and then became violent. Mr Porter was known as a mild man who disliked conflict, but Krajewski became so enraged that he punched the victim so hard that he received a whiplash injury and was knocked into a water-logged ditch beside the towpath.

The court heard how Mr Porter was wearing a life jacket, but Krajewski pushed him down into the water until he died.

In his sentencing remarks, Judge Mr Justice Turner said: “Mr Porter ended up in a water-filled ditch. I am sure that this was the time you decided Mr Porter would have to die.

“I am sure that you deliberately caused his death by pressing down on him as he was lying face-up in the water.

“You had an incentive to ensure he was dead. If he lived, he would no doubt be a witness to a serious crime of violence, but he would be the means by which a very dark secret about you would be brought to light.”

Krajewski was a convicted double murderer who had escaped prison [TVP]

A very dark secret

In 1992, Krajewski and another man named Leszek Nadachewicz murdered two people – a husband and wife – in Poland.

During this terrifying ordeal, which was a car-jacking that went horribly wrong, the two men beat their victims to death with sticks before hiding them in a forest.

Both men were caught and in 1993, Nadachewicz was sentenced to 15 years in prison, while Krajewski, the shot caller, got 25 years.

Krajewski had served 13 years of his sentence when, one day in 2005, he absconded while out on day release, and was never seen in Poland again. The details of his escape from custody remain unclear.

The offender was subject to an Interpol Red Notice, reserved for fugitives who are wanted either for prosecution or to serve a sentence.

Krajewski had been on the run for 16 years, making his way to the UK under a false identity – Daniel Wisniewski – at an unknown time.

The court heard how Krajewski had been living under the radar as his alter ego Wisniewski. All of the windows of his canal boat were boarded up in an attempt to slip through life unnoticed, and officers also found falsified documents inside, suggesting he had a second fake identity.

Krajewski was captured using thermal imaging cameras [TVP]

Catching a killer

While witnesses had seen Krajewski and Mr Porter having an animated discussion, there were no actual witnesses to the assault, and no one saw where the killer went as he made his escape.

Police descended on the area, suspecting that he had not gone far, but he very nearly evaded capture.

It took until midnight, 12 hours after the killing, when a police helicopter armed with a thermal camera noticed a very small reading coming from beneath a trailer about two-and-a-half miles from the crime scene.

Officers were directed to the trailer, which was on land owned by Krajewski’s partner, where they found the killer hiding underneath. He was arrested and detained, and has not left custody since.

Sentencing Krajewski, Judge Mr Justice Turner said: “You left him dying in a ditch.

“In interview you made up a fairy story about two men who you said were responsible for the attack on Mr Porter, and to add insult to injury, you said you tried to help him and that you deserved a medal from the Queen for your bravery.”

Sylwester Krajewski was found guilty of murdering Clive Porter and was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 35 years.

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