TWO Polish men were yesterday found guilty of what was described as “the savage and brutal” murder of a Newport man.

Following a three-month trial, Pawel Lysonik, 22, of Capel Crescent and Kamil Semrau, 28, of Chepstow Road, Newport, were found guilty of murdering 34-yearold Lithuanian-born Ramunas Raulinautis in an attack that was also called “shockingly violent and cold-blooded”.

The two men stood trial at Cardiff Crown Court with Lukas Kalkowski, 30, of Laundry Road, Pontypridd and Stanislaw Gliszczynski, 31, of no fixed abode, who were both found not guilty of murder, but guilty of causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Mr Raulinautis.

The charges were brought after Mr Raulinautis was found fatally injured outside the Gateway Express Hotel, Chepstow Road, on March 9 last year.

During the trial, which started in February, prosecutor Elwen Evans QC said Mr Raulinautis was “brutally murdered” after being beaten, possibly with a copper pipe, at Semrau’s flat on Chepstow Road.

Ms Evans said he was then dragged outside, with the defendants stuffing his clothes with paper and setting him alight.

He died three days later at Swansea’s Morriston Hospital after suffering 60 per cent burns to his body and injuries including fractured ribs and a perforated bowel.

Lysonik was also found guilty of attempting to murder Stanislaw Galeza, following an attack at his home on Livingstone Place, Newport, on March 7, 2011.

Kalkowski and Gliszczynski were found not guilty of attempting to murder Mr Galeza, but guilty of inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent.

Following the same incident, Lysonik was found guilty of arson with intent to endanger life, charges Kalkowski and Gliszcynski were found not guilty of.

The latter two, however, were found guilty of arson, being reckless as to whether life was endangered.

Gliszczynski’s brother Andrzej Gliszcynski, 27, of Longtown Grove, Newport, was found not guilty of assisting offenders.

The defendants had denied the charges, with Semrau saying Raulinautis punched him first and he hit him back in self-defence, while Lysonik claimed the victim’s blood was injected into his shoe to implicate him.

The jury reached its verdict after six days of deliberation and Justice Roderick Evans will sentence the defendants today after mitigation is heard.

Scuffle and tears in court

AS the jury read out its final verdict, Stanislaw Gliszcysnki punched the screen in front of the dock and shouted “I did nothing wrong”.

A scuffle then broke out between the defendants, with guards trying to calm the situation.

Justice Evans ordered the four guilty men to the cells and excused the jury from court as four members were in tears because of the outburst.

Polish community thanked for help

AFTER the verdicts, Gwent Police’s senior investigating officer Supt Peter Jones called Mr Raulinautis’ death “needless, savage and brutal”.

He said: “None of the men convicted today have shown any remorse or taken responsibility for their actions.”

He called the murder investigation “painstaking” and thanked the Polish community in Gwent for their help. Senior Crown Prosecutor David Watts said: “Ramunas Raulinautis lost his life in a shockingly violent and cold-blooded attack.

“We are pleased that the perpetrators of this senseless crime have been brought to justice.”