Gang members jailed for beating to death 23-year-old who broke into weed factory
Three members of an Albanian gang who beat to death a 23-year-old and dumped him on a street in Wales have been jailed.
The brutally beaten body of Tomasz Waga, from Dagenham in east London, was found on Westville Road in Cardiff on 28 January 28 2021.
Josif Nushi, Mihal Dhana and Hysland Aliaj were found guilty of murdering Waga on Tuesday (10 January) following a trial at Newport Crown Court.
The jury were told Waga was among four men who travelled from London that night to steal from a cannabis factory set up by the organised crime group, and Waga had a previous conviction on his record for carrying out a similar crime.
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Aliaj heard the men break in and alerted other gang members, including Nushi and Dhana, who got to the house within five minutes.
Waga and Carl Davies, who had remained in the house to collect cannabis plants, tried to flee from an upstairs window but were cornered by the three defendants.
Davies managed to fight his way out of the property, sustaining some injuries before hiding behind a nearby garden wall.
But Waga sustained a total of 28 injuries, including severe head trauma, broken ribs and a fractured lower back.
It is believed Waga was subjected to a sustained attack including kicks and stamps to his head before being dragged out of the house and into an awaiting Mercedes vehicle.
He was driven a short distance before being pushed out of the car onto the street.
In a statement read to the court, Waga's sister Patrycja Waga said her brother was 'dumped like rubbish'.
Ms Waga said: "The pain of not being there to comfort him in his last moments of life as his older sister has been unimaginable, not to mention the inhumane way in which he was dumped like a bag of rubbish, which will haunt me for the rest of my life, as will seeing his lifeless and battered face during formal identification.
"Tomasz had his entire life ahead of him including a new born son who is now fatherless and unable to, outside of the cemetery grounds, celebrate Father's Day, among other things, with him.
"He was my only brother and despite the bad choices he made he had a good heart and always meant well."
Nushi, 28, and Dhana, 29, were sentenced to life imprisonment – Nushi with a minimum term of 20 years, and Dhana with a minimum of 16 years in jail.
Aliaj, 31, was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 10 years in prison. He was told he would serve two-thirds of the sentence before being released on licence.
High Court judge Sir Barry Cotter said he had taken into account former firefighter Aliaj's record of bravery and the letter from his wife, but said there was no suggestion he was 'vulnerable, naive or trafficked to the country'.
He said: "Tomasz Waga was 23 years of age. His death leaves grieving parents, a loving sister, a partner and a newborn son who will never know his father.
"The pain and loss of the family will never go away – for them, it is a life sentence."
Jake Massey