Family of Polish man murdered in Bognor lay poignant tribute

Three bouquets mark the spot where a Bognor Regis man was found murdered on the seafront. The flowers were placed by the family of Marek Pudlowski during a private and sombre visit to the scene at Waterloo Square.

Mr Pudlowski's former wife and his son and daughter paid their personal tributes to him accompanied by a family liaison officer from Sussex Police.

The poignant reminder of a life ended so brutally at the seat at the square's eastern junction with the seafront contrasted with the hustle and bustle of the surrounding busy promenade at the height of the summer season.

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The relatives of Mr Pudlowski spent Monday and Tuesday in the area after they had made the sad journey from his Polish homeland.

Their flowers '“ white stocks in one bouquet, yellow chrysanthemums in another and purple dahlias and carnations and a single cream rose in the third '“ were an expression of their grief at his sudden and violent death.

Mr Pudlowski, 51, of Bassett Road, originated from Szklarska Poerba in Poland. He had been in the UK for between two and four years. He had since worked in seasonal jobs and for several employment agencies.

Detective Chief Inspector Steve Johns, who is leading the hunt for his killer, said: "Mr Pudlowski was not working at the time of his death. He was a mild-mannered man who kept himself to himself.

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"I am convinced the answer to his death lies within a very localised area. His murder can't be explained by anything in his background in Poland. "

Mr Pudlowski was found dead on the bench at about 3.30pm on August 3 by a member of the public. He was slumped to the left on the seat and the individual immediately flagged down a passing police car. An ambulance was called but Mr Pudlowski was pronounced dead.

He was found to have severe bruising on his upper body. It is believed he was attacked between 10am and midday that day.

A post mortem failed to show the definite use of a weapon, but DCI Johns, of Sussex Police's major crime branch, said he had not ruled out the possibility.

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DCI Johns said the investigation was narrowing down Mr Pudlowski's final movements.

He is leading a team of up to 40-50 officers at any one time who have been searching for the murderer and were yesterday following up two new lines of inquiry.

They were also searching through CCTV footage from the seafront and the town centre to find out more clues about his death.

"Our investigation is continuing slowly but surely. I am confident we will get to the bottom of this matter. We are putting all the necessary resources into dealing with the crime," he said.

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"We have made some progress in terms of pinning down the movements of Marek on August 3. We know he left his house at 10am that day. CCTV footage shows him arriving at the bench unaided just after 3pm.

"Sometime between those hours he sustained this vicious assault with a number of very serious injuries to his upper body. I'm open-minded about why Marek was attacked. We don't know why at this moment and we don't know who did it.

"But we are gradually reducing the time frame within which he would have been attacked.That is the sort of inquiry which will help us to find who was responsible for his death."

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