Alexander Zurawski was just six years old when he was found dead at his home in Swansea, Wales, next to his mum Karolina Zurawska – who had a handsaw by her side
A mum brutally killed her six-year-old son – who was recovering from a terrifying brain tumour – with a handsaw after hearing “demonic voices”, a court heard. Alexander Zurawski died at his home in Swansea and his mum Karolina Zurawska, 42 who had previously been the “best mother” to her boy, was found next to his body with the saw at her side.
Alexander was left partially sighted and required a cane to walk after his brain tumour. His mum pleaded guilty to manslaughter over the shocking incident on August 24, 2024, by reason of diminished responsibility. But she denied murder.
The mum also pleaded guilty to the attempted murder of her father, Krzysztof Siwi, earlier the same day. Three psychiatric experts concluded the mum had been suffering from a psychotic illness at the time – with the prosecution accepting the manslaughter charge.
Zurawska had called her dad that day but Mr Siwi drove to her home because she was acting “strange”, but she continued to act out of character when he got there, sitting on the hallway floor and speaking little. Zurawska told her father that she needed to kill him, and tried to attack him with a knife.
Disarming Zurawska, Mr Siwi sat in his car where he spoke with another daughter in Poland and they were concerned reporting her would see her boy taken away as neither believed “whatsoever that she would harm Alexander”. Zurawska came out of her home and tried to attack her dad again so he tried to take Alexander away but couldn’t.
After driving home, Mr Siwi spoke to his daughter in Poland again, who urged him to return to Zurawska but it was too late. Her neighbours called the police after hearing screaming.
Zurawska was sentenced to an indefinite hospital order at Swansea Crown Court today. During the sentencing, Judge Paul Thomas KC said: “The often-overused word ‘tragic’ does not begin to reflect the awfulness of what happened that day to Alex. Those that know you and know of your relationship with Alexander have described you as a devoted, loving, caring mother. Your father described you as ‘the best’.
“Your relationship with Alexander was a warm and loving one on both sides. You adored each other, and he trusted you. Unfortunately, from birth, Alexander had major medical problems, in particular a brain tumour, which had its own complications, which had a huge impact on his life.
“You devoted yourself to being his carer, to provide him with everything he needed and did so effectively as a single parent for the most part. The stresses on you must have been enormous.”
He said there was “strong and compelling evidence” that she was acting in an “uncharacteristic manner”, but no one could have foreseen what would happen before that day. The judge said she had hugged her father, told him she loved him, before “launching three attacks on him”, intending to kill him.
“The unanimous view of three psychiatrists is that you were at the time in the grip of a psychotic episode,” he said. “It affected your mental state so greatly that you were unable to understand what you were doing.
“You were suffering from the delusion of hearing voices, you believe that you were being instructed by a demonic force. You are not a wicked mother, far from it.”
The judge said he did not believe harming Alexander would have entered the defendant’s mind if she had not been mentally unwell and that he “entirely agreed” with the psychiatrists that she needed indefinite hospital treatment. “I cannot end without mentioning Alexander, his all too brief life was one of bravely battling medical issues,” he said. “It was a life filled with love. I know that those that knew him well will never forget him, nor ever stop loving him.”
