Walsall man threatened to behead wife in row
A jealous and possessive husband threatened to decapitate his wife after she said she was leaving him.
Construction worker Darius Branecki threatened his ‘terrified’ wife Anna after they had enjoyed a final evening together drinking and dancing at home in Walsall before they were due to split up.
When his wife repeated her intention to leave him, drunken Branecki issued a chilling threat – saying he would ‘cut off her head just like what happened to the soldier in London’ and then brandished a knife.
Branecki, a 41-year-old Polish national, who moved to the UK with his family five years ago, admitted one charge of threats to kill at Wolverhampton Crown Court.
He has been warned he could face deportation when his 22-month sentence has been served. He was also given a five-year restraining order.
Mr David Bennett, prosecuting, said: “On April 21 [Branecki] threatened to strangle the complainant and then asked her if she would sit down with him to have one last drink. The complainant agreed to do that and they drunk and danced together.
“However, the defendant’s mood changed when his wife made it clear the relationship was over.
“He said he would cut the complainant’s head off just like what happened to the soldier in London. Shortly after he entered the bedroom armed with a knife, which he put to her throat.”
Police were called by one of the couple’s teenage sons and arrived at the scene to find Branecki pinning his wife down on a living room sofa with a ‘large yellow-handled knife’ in hand.
Miss Kamal Preet Shergill, defending, said Branecki, of Beddows Road, Coalpool, had no previous convictions.
