Before the District Court in Płock, the trial of 18-year-old Bartosz G., charged with the murder of 16-year-old Maja K. from Mława with particular cruelty, was due to begin on Tuesday, 3 November. The hearing was postponed to 2 December after the defence filed a motion to disqualify two judges, and the indictment was not read.
What happened in the courtroom
As reported by TVP Info, the hearing was held in a special courtroom guarded by police, outside the main court building. The trial was to open before a seven-member panel of judges. However, the defence attorney filed a motion to remove two judges from the panel, including the presiding judge. According to Interia, she justified this by citing a flawed method of selecting the panel. According to TVN24, one of the judges is a so-called „neo-judge,” which, in the defence’s view, means the court is not impartial.
The court referred the motion to be considered by a different panel, and the presiding judge, Justyna Wawrzyńczak, postponed the hearing to Wednesday, 2 December. The prosecution opposed the motion. According to Interia, the prosecutor argued it was meant to delay the proceedings; the attorney for the deceased’s father expressed a similar view. As Super Express reports, if the panel is disqualified, the date may change and the trial would start from the beginning.
Statements by the accused
The accused spoke several times. According to Interia, he called the statements of the family’s attorneys a „circus” and also spoke about a documented suicide attempt. At one point he began to laugh, which the family’s attorney asked to have recorded in the minutes. At the end, he said he loved his relatives. His behaviour in the courtroom has no bearing on the assessment of guilt, which the court will decide.
Maja’s father, quoted by „Fakt”, responded to the defence’s arguments. The court also did not admit the Ombudsman for Children to participate in the case as a social observer, reports TVP3 Warszawa.
Background
According to Interia, the tragedy occurred on 23 April 2025. The body of the 16-year-old was found several days later in bushes near a production plant owned by the accused’s family. Extensive head injuries were given as the cause of death. The suspect was detained in Greece, and on 19 December 2025 the Płock District Prosecutor’s Office released information obtained from the Greek side.
We previously reported on earlier stages of the case, including after the end of Bartosz G.’s psychiatric observation. The experts later found him fully responsible for his actions.
What comes next
The court had earlier decided to partially open the trial to the public. As TVN24 reports, at the organisational hearing, 12 further dates were scheduled beyond the first hearing. The next is 2 December, but its course depends on the ruling on the motion to disqualify the judges. The teenager’s family, as TVN24 reports, expects to learn the motives behind the accused’s actions during the trial.
Bartosz G. is charged and has not been convicted; in Poland, the presumption of innocence applies until a final judgment. As of publication, it has not been announced when or which panel will consider the defence’s motion.
