A murder trial has heard a 45-year-old crime gang member was kidnapped and doused in petrol before being set on fire and dumped in a remote West Lancashire location. The jury have now retired to consider their verdict.

A jury trying four men accused of murdering a father-of-two who was allegedly set on fire and dumped in Lancashire to be taught a lesson by a crime gang has retired to consider its verdicts.

A trial at Birmingham Crown Court has heard that Tomasz Samel was kidnapped in 2019 in Birmingham by three men claiming to be from Interpol, before being driven to the Liverpool area and attacked.

Prosecutors allege the 45-year-old was taken from his home in Raleigh Close, Handsworth, at about 8.35am on March 27 2019. It is alleged he was then tortured, doused in petrol and set ablaze, following the loss of 10 million cigarettes worth £1 million which had been seized by HM Revenue and Customs.

Opening the Crown’s case in June, prosecutor Harpreet Sandhu KC said Mr Samel was dumped in a remote location near the village of Bickerstaffe in West Lancashire, and died in hospital almost three months later.

Neil Jones, Kevin Wooden, Kye Arthur and Tobiasz Kozlowski all deny murder.

Tomasz Samel was kidnapped and murdered last year

placeholder image — Tomasz Samel was kidnapped and murdered last year

Wooden, aged 46, of Alma Road, Banbury, Oxfordshire; Arthur, 35, of Copley Gardens, Bristol; Jones, 48, of no fixed address, and Kozlowski, 38, of Crosland Road, Kirkby, Merseyside, further deny a charge of conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm

Kozlowski’s wife Sandra Kozlowska, aged 38 and also of Crosland Road, Kirkby, denies assisting an offender by helping him to avoid detection.

Jones has pleaded guilty to manslaughter, conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to falsely imprison. Wooden, Arthur and Kozlowski all deny manslaughter. Kozlowski further denies conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to falsely imprison. Jones, Wooden and Arthur have admitted conspiracy to falsely imprison and conspiracy to kidnap.

Sending jurors out to start their deliberations on Wednesday, High Court Judge Mr Justice Wall instructed them to take as much time as they need to reach unanimous verdicts.

The judge said: “There is no pressure of time on you – there is no right amount of time for a jury to take to reach verdicts. It will take you the amount of time you need in order to reach verdicts upon which you are all agreed.”

The jury is not sitting on Thursday and will resume its deliberations on Friday.