WARNING – DISTRESSING CONTENT: John Sarawanskyj, 52, is accused of murdering his father Ivan at his home – a court heard the ‘deliberate and sustained attack’ followed a previous accusation about the son’s dog
A man accused of murdering his dad is alleged to have attacked his father on a previous occasion after being accused of performing a sex act on his dog, a court was told. Ivan Sarawanskyj, 73, died after suffering dozens of injuries in a “deliberate and sustained attack” at his home in Southport.
His son, 52-year-old John Sarawanskyj, is currently on trial at Liverpool Crown Court accused of his murder. After the incident in December, the son was said to have visited a neighbour’s house and made a “remarkable confession” that he had “jumped all over his father’s head”, before telling paramedics who arrived at the scene: “I’m not bothered he’s dead. He wasn’t a nice man.”
It came after a series of arguments between the two men concerning money and the John dog Zeus, whose death around three months previously had left the 52-year-old “deeply upset”, reports Liverpool Echo. This was said to have sparked a “desire for revenge” in him after he accused his dad of plotting with vets to poison the American bulldog.
Having previously said that he was not present at the time of his dad’s death and suggesting that another person may have killed his father, or that Ivan had suffered his “extensive injuries” during a fall, Sarawanskyj now claims to have acted in self-defence during the course of a physical confrontation.
Russell Moss, who visited the family home twice on the day of Ivan’s death, was called to give evidence to the jury yesterday. He recalled drinking apple-flavoured Jack Daniel’s whisky with John, and said: “We was having a drink. John had 80 quid on him in cash and a couple of scratch cards and this bottle of whisky. To buy, it’s 50 quid.
“He wanted to get some amphetamine with it. We both did. But there was only £80 there, and it was £100. He started getting a bit aggressive. He goes, ‘well you chuck the 20 quid in’. I said, I haven’t got any money.
“He started balling up, because he’d had a drink. He was getting a bit angry. His head had gone.
“I asked him where his dad was again. He slammed the back door open. He goes ‘stop going on about my dad’. He stormed out the back garden and he goes ‘Zeus, that’s all I’m bothered about’.”
Mr Moss said Sarawanskyj then marched him into the other room, saying ‘I’ll show you where my dad is’. He added: “His eyes were totally black. He wasn’t there. Its not the John I know.”
Asked about Ivan’s appearance at this time, Mr Moss said: “It happened that quick. For me, he just looked asleep. There was that much going on at the time, I didn’t think. He was just like wedged in between his table. He’s known for falling over. I don’t know whether he’s fell off his bed or whatever.
“The anger in John was that severe, I just had to get out the house I feared for my own life… He said, ‘say anything, I’ll f****** kill you as well.'”
Asked about a previous reported incident at Ivan’s former home, Mr Moss said Sarawanskyj had “laid into” his father after his father “said he was… abusing his dog”.
Nick Johnson KC previously told a jury during the prosecution’s opening last week: “On Sunday the 22nd of December last year, this defendant kicked and beat his 73-year-old father to death in his own home by delivering multiple blows to his head, his chest and his abdomen.
“He caused 46 external injuries to his head and neck alone, including bone fractures and lacerations. He caused multiple fractures to multiple ribs and his sternum.
“He then told friends and neighbours and police that he was not even in the house at the time. He told them that he had no issues with his dad that day and that his dad was prone to falling over and could have caused the injuries himself, although he let slip to one neighbour while in drink that he had jumped all over his father’s head. He went on to suggest to the police that someone else might have got into the house and killed him.”
Jurors heard Ivan had lived at the address for “a couple of years or more” before being “joined by his son in more recent months”, together with Zeus and his XL bully. But they were said to have had a “difficult relationship”, with both men being described as having a “history of alcoholism” and neighbours “hearing arguments and swearing on a regular basis”.
Donna Larkey, who lived opposite the father and son, recalled hearing “loud shouting” from the property in the early hours of December 22 as an “angry” Sarawanskyj apparently demanded money.
After Mr Moss left, Sarawanskyj knocked on the door of Christopher Caldwell, his next door but one neighbour, at around 9pm and allegedly told him: “He’s dead, my dad. I jumped all over his head. I didn’t like him anyway.”
When Mr Caldwell asked him whether he had called an ambulance, Sarawanskyj said he had not, before walking away again. Mr Johnson said of this: “If the defendant did indeed say that, the prosecution say that it is a remarkable confession.”
It was claimed that Sarawanskyj went on to visit his friend, Gary Buckley’s home on nearby Eden Avenue shortly after 11.30pm and told him: “He’s dead. I don’t know what to do.”
Mr Buckley then returned with him to Braemar Avenue, at which stage he saw Ivan “clearly dead” on the floor next to the bed and called 999. Sarawanskyj went on to answer the door to paramedics upon their arrival shortly before midnight, telling them: “He’s dead. I know he’s dead, but you can come in and take a look.”
The “intoxicated” defendant went on to state he was unsure when he had last seen his dad alive and said he had been “out all day”, adding: “I’m not bothered he’s dead. He wasn’t a nice man.”
Ivan was meanwhile found with “multiple injuries” in a bedroom, where the walls, floor, side tables and mattress had been left “covered in blood”. His son went on to tell police at the scene that he had last seen his dad at around 8am, adding: “I’ve been to town today, check the CCTV footage. He’s a drinker right, I go out. I’m not gonna kill me old fella, am I?”
Sarawanskyj denies one count of murder. The trial, before Judge Brian Cummings KC, continues.
