A four-year-old boy who died after being deprived of food and locked in a homemade prison was abused for putting his shoes on the wrong feet, his stepfather told a court today.

Daniel Pelka, of Coventry, West Midlands, died of a suspected head injury in March 2012 after being beaten and forced to sleep on a stained mattress in an act of ‘incomprehensible cruelty’.

Magdalena Luczak, 27, and her partner Mariusz Krezolek, 34, who are being tried at Birmingham Crown Court, both admit child cruelty but deny murder and causing or allowing the death of a child.

On trial: Magdalena Luczak, 27, and her partner Mariusz Krezolek (both left), 34, of Coventry, West Midlands, are being tried at Birmingham Crown Court following the death of Daniel Pelka (right) in March 2012

Today Daniel’s stepfather gave evidence for the first time in the trial, saying how his partner would often shout at Daniel just for putting his clothes on inside out or his shoes on the wrong feet.

He also claimed Luczak had an alcohol problem and often smoked marijuana, which led to her losing her tempter.

Speaking through a Polish interpreter he said: ‘She shouted and sometimes would shake him. For example, when Daniel put his clothes on he would put them on inside out and confused his shoes.

‘Sometimes she wouldn’t say anything and put them on for him herself – sometimes there was some shoving or shouting.’

Krezolek said of Daniel: ‘You know, normally like every child, he was a cheeky boy – but he was completely normal.’

He then spoke of how little Daniel, – who spoke no English and only a few words of Polish – preferred to play on his own when they would go to the park.

He added: ‘Daniel usually would stay on the side, he enjoyed playing on his own. He didn’t contact other kids, he didn’t talk to them.

‘Often, in the park a child approached him and showed willingness to play with him, but Daniel showed no such interest.’

Hearing: Mariusz Krezolek (centre) gives evidence at Birmingham Crown Court today through a Polish interpreter (far left). Magdelena Luczak, 27 is also drawn (bottom right)

Defence barrister Nigel Lambert QC went on to question Krezolek about his relationship with Daniel’s mother. Krezolek told the court Luczak was a ‘wonderful woman’ at first.

He said: ‘We started to see each other on a daily basis. It was very good, every day I came back from work, home to her, and on New Year’s Day she told me she was pregnant.’

However within a few months he found out his new partner had been lying about the pregnancy to trick him to move in, jurors were told.

He added: ‘Most of the time she was a wonderful woman but sometimes out of the blue she would explode and cause arguments.

‘At the very beginning it started with the computer, I couldn’t stay in touch – or maybe she didn’t wish I did – with a female friend in Poland.

‘She would not wish me to speak to anyone, then the phone number erasing started.

‘I used to have many number of friends in the UK and after three months they’d gone. Later she admitted she deleted them when I was asleep so I wouldn’t get a temptation to call anyone.

Death: Daniel Pelka, of Coventry, West Midlands, died of a suspected head injury in 2012 after being beaten and forced to sleep on a stained mattress in an act of ‘incomprehensible cruelty’

‘There was a sick jealousy that came – it is hard to explain.’

The jury also heard how the couple regularly argued. He claimed Luczak would ‘smash computers’ and that ‘four or five’ computers were broken in total.

He also claimed how the couple were forced to move from a property after her cannabis habit became more frequent and she made friends with a neighbour, who was also a drug dealer.

Luczak called police on numerous occasions claiming she had been assaulted by her partner, which he denied.

The court heard how Krezolek left Poland in 2005 to come to the UK and was employed at a bricklayer and plasterer within three days.

After arriving, he met a woman whom he married, although later found out she was having an affair.

He said: ‘I focused on work, I took an extra job and this is how I pushed her into another man’s arms. I came back earlier one day from work and I saw them together in bed.’

The trial continues.

Read more: Daily Mail