ByRobyn Rosen, Robyn Rosen
Police "fabricated" evidence in a desperate attempt to seal a conviction for the unsolved manslaughter of a Stamford Hill pensioner, a court has heard.
Eveline Kelmenson, 83, died alone after burglars raided her home and left her bound and gagged.
She lay undiscovered for five weeks before she was found by relatives on New Year's Day 2009.
Her home had been "ransacked" after two burglars broke into the basement using tools, an Old Bailey jury heard last week.
Two Polish men, Kuba Dlugosz, 33, and cleaner Szymon Wyrostek, 26, deny her manslaughter, as well as robbery and burglary.
Jonathan Laidlaw, QC, prosecuting, said when Mr Wyrostek was arrested in September 2010 he told police as he was driven to the station: "I did not murder her, we went there for money. We put masking tape around her feet."
But defending Mr Wyrostek, Sally O'Neill, QC, said police had been "very anxious" to obtain a conviction and that they had "made up" the confession.
Through an interpreter, Mr Wyrostek told the jury he had never been to Miss Kelmenson's house or heard of the street. Mr Dlugosz refused to give evidence.
At the time of going to press, the jury had not reached a verdict.