Innocent man's life destroyed by prudish Brits

Last Thursday, just after midday, Daniel Pytlarz walked out of Southwark Crown Court an innocent but scarred man.

For five weeks, the masseur had stood in the dock listening to a litany of allegations so similar the trial was likened to the film Groundhog Day. On and on they came, 18 women in total, who claimed he had touched them inappropriately during treatments at his salon in St John’s Wood, North London.

The sheer scale of the numbers involved suggested that this was, if not a fait accompli, then at least an open and shut case. According to the prosecution Mr Pytlarz was a sexual predator who abused women under the guise of massage. And, really, how could 18 women be wrong?

The jury found him unanimously not guilty on every count.

Yet even an innocent verdict cannot simply make everything right again. Mr Pytlarz, 35, who has treated Nancy Dell’Olio and Sir Paul McCartney’s daughter, Mary, has had his reputation torn apart and his business very nearly destroyed.

He was denied bail and has spent the last nine months in Wandsworth prison in conditions he describes as ‘medieval’.

He remained powerless and bewildered as the police sent letters to every client he had ever treated and the number of woman claiming sexual assault mounted by the day.

His wife, Urszula Nowozeniuk, 32, was left to keep their salon afloat while defending the man who had suddenly become ‘a monster’ in the eyes of her clients and the wider world.

Although he is now free – celebrating his first night with champagne, melon and parma ham – Mr Pytlarz is terrified that the police will come knocking at his door with further allegations.

Dressed in a tailored, pin-striped suit, he has a gentle manner and is still clearly dumbfounded by all that has happened since the first allegation two-and-a-half years ago.

Speaking quietly with a strong accent – he came to Britain from Poland in 2002 – Mr Pytlarz says: ‘I am a professional, I always did everything to protect people’s dignity. When I massage I really focus, feel the vibes, the energy. And physically I’m attached...my thumbs, elbows, forearms. It is not like the massages the spas provide with a little hand waving around.

‘It’s sensual, by which I mean some people may be getting quite excited and not realise what is happening. I think they have the wrong idea as to what real massage is. A real massage is a very powerful thing.

‘I was innocent. When I was arrested I was devastated. ‘I thought, what is going on? And when I was standing in court I felt shamed...I didn’t do anything – but it felt like no one was listening to me.

‘Then, when I was in prison, I knew I had done nothing wrong. So can you imagine what it was like, closed in this room 6ft long, 5ft wide. I didn’t see green at all for nine months. It was like hell.’

So how did this disturbing, strange, case come about?

Mr Pytlarz was born in Radom, a town 60 miles from Warsaw, to Janina and Joseph, a test pilot. A devout Roman Catholic, he originally wanted to become a priest but instead studied at the Academy of Physical Education in Warsaw, graduating top of his year.

He became a sports teacher and then worked at the Marriott Hotel in Warsaw as a personal trainer and masseur. While he was there he met the Polish couture designer, Arkadiusz Weremczuk– whose clients have included Lady Gaga, Graham Norton and Pink.

Mr Pytlarz says: ‘One of my clients took me to one of his shows. At the end, I shook his hand. I’ve got quite strong healing powers, and he said, “You have a strong energy field”.

‘He asked me to work with him and to look after his partner, Michael Gearin-Tosh, who had leukaemia. I looked after him for the last year and a half of his life. I was with him right to the end.’

The masseur went on to work at the Harbour Club in Chelsea and also had a number of private clients, saving every penny to put towards his own salon.

In 2008, the day financial crisis hit, he achieved his aim, opening the Violet Clinic Body and Skincare in St John’s Wood. Ursuzla, who he’d met in Poland in 2004, offered the beauty therapies while he provided the massages including deep tissue, sports, Thai and shiatsu.

They relied on passing trade and word of mouth and were delighted when Paul McCartney’s daughter Mary popped in one day. Impressed, she decided to book a massage for her father. A couple of days before the treatment, in December 2009, one of Mr McCartney’s employees visited the salon. While she was there, Mr Pytlarz offered her a free massage as the employee of a potentially important client.

According to the masseur, he gave her a head and shoulder massage. According to the employee, it was a full body massage in which his hands had brushed into the genital area.

She told Mary McCartney, who promptly cancelled her father’s appointment. The police turned up at the salon the following day and accused him of sexual assault and assault by penetration.

Mr Pytlarz says: ‘They arrived at the salon in the afternoon, a man and a woman. They said, “We need to talk to you about an assault that took place on these premises.”

‘They cuffed me, put me in the car and drove me to Paddington. They put me in the cell for 10 hours. I was in shock, I kept thinking, why? It was well after midnight when they let me go. I walked all the way home, in shock. We’d been very kind to her, she’d chatted to Urszula afterwards. I couldn’t understand it.’

His defence would later claim in court that the now ex-employee had made up the allegation as she didn’t want Mr McCartney to know she’d had a free massage. They also pointed out that Mr Pytlarz would hardly do anything to jeopardise his appointment with the pop star.

Certainly, it’s clear he is passionate about is job. Explaining his techniques, he grows animated and intense, saying: ‘In my massage I use the knowledge I got at university of physiology and anatomy and also from my travels, from Thailand and Tibet. I take the best from each technique.

‘When I start a massage, I don’t put my hands on the body, I try to feel the energy between two people. Sometimes I can feel disturbances in the body, I will feel heat or my hands will tingle. It’s not just massage, it’s more than that. I’m a teacher, a life coach. It’s important to talk to the clients, I need to understand them, make them feel at ease. I always ask if there are any areas they do not want touched, not just the groin.

‘There might be areas that are sensitive or where they’re ticklish. Some women prefer to leave their bra on. I never ask women to remove all their underwear unless they are happy with it. Certain treatments involve lots of strokes. ‘I clean my hands 30, 40 times a day, it’s like a disorder.’

After the initial allegation, Mr Pytlarz heard nothing from the police. He says: ‘They left me in limbo. In the end I went to the police station and they said the charges had been dropped. I was very upset but I didn’t lose confidence in my work. I felt disappointment and anger but I didn’t feel vulnerable...not then.’

That came with the second allegation of sexual assault in April 2011. A 41-year-old mother-of-two alleged that the masseur had brushed his groin area against her hands, giving the impression he offered a ‘fuller service’ if she wanted it. She also said he touched her intimately as he moved higher and higher up her thighs.

Mr Pytlarz says: ‘They turned up again, same as before. I later learnt the woman had come forward three weeks after the treatment when she had spoken to her sister. I don’t think what she thought was real, it was built up in her mind.

‘This time I was devastated. When I worked out which woman it was I thought, “She had a great treatment.” That was when I felt vulnerable. I thought, “How can I perform good treatments in the future and make sure this doesn’t happen again?” I said to the police, “How can I protect myself” – but the officer just dismissed me.

‘I realised I was in danger. I said, right, no new female clients, no more women I don’t know.’

This time the masseur was charged with sexual assault, but was bailed.

Worse was to come. In September of that year, a 17-year-old girl accused him of groping her and pulling her legs apart during a massage. The police charged him with sexual assault and assault by penetration and kept him in the cells at Paddington station for four days.

Mr Pytlarz says: ‘There was no basin, nowhere to wash my teeth. Those were the worst days of my life. I’ve never been so humiliated, so alone. I prayed, I read the bible. Sometimes at night, it was like psychological torture. It’s a busy station, you could hear people fighting, the keys clinking.’

At Southwark Crown Court, it was revealed the girl suffered from Attention Deficit Disorder and had a history of self-harm and depression. Her allegations were dismissed. But at the time of the claim, Mr Pytlarz was refused bail and transferred to Wandsworth prison, where he would spend the next nine months, missing his first wedding anniversary.

He says: ‘It was like Hard Times there. It was so old. There was not even a radiator, in winter it was so cold. It was like I was in the camps. It was so bad many people complained to their lawyers and now they are having to redo it as it is not fit to live in.

‘In my cell, there were two beds, a toilet, a hand basin, a television in the corner which brainwashes you.’

To his great credit, Mr Pytlarz refused to stagnate or sink into depression. He used plastic water bottles for weight lifting and read novels by Tolstoy and Polish authors. He also taught his cellmates the art of massage.

Meanwhile, the rumour mill was beginning to do its work. A fourth woman, in her fifties, came forward after a neighbour had told her about the masseur’s arrest. She claimed he had touched her inappropriately during a massage in March 2009, despite the fact she then returned to the salon for a treatment with Urszula and allowed her husband to visit Mr Pytlarz.

The police investigation was also gathering pace. After the third allegation six police arrived and removed all their records. They then sent a letter to every client Mr Pytlarz and Urszula had ever treated – saying they were investigating a number of alleged assaults at the clinic and asking them to get in touch if they had any information. While Mr Pytlarz was in prison another 14 women came forward, all claiming their massages had been inappropriate.

Urszula says: ‘I said to my clients, “You’ve been treated by Daniel, tell me, I’m going to have children with this man, do I have a Jekyll and Hyde here? Am I blinded by love?” I asked them the question and they said no because it never happened to us.’

Interestingly, all 14 women had visited the salon after they placed an advert on the internet site Wahanda – which specialises in discount vouchers for spa and beauty treatments. Instead of the usual £100 fee, they paid only £26.

Urszula says: ‘Some of these people didn’t even know what they were coming for. They would arrive with a folder with all their vouchers for different treatments all over London.

‘What also struck me is that we have so many nationalities in Britain. Name a country, they’re here but you look at the list of these women and there are two Americans and the rest are English.

‘Sometimes a massage can make you excited. It is pleasurable. Maybe these women have a different feeling having massages to what they are used to. Some of our regulars who have travelled all over the world say this is the best massage ever.

‘I think maybe these women don’t understand. I wasn’t surprised the women were saying similar things because some people will have those feelings. That is how a proper massage is supposed to go.’

Her husband added: ‘The massage is not slow strokes, gentle, it is firm. Some areas get invigorated as the blood flow increases in the glands areas, the neck, under arms and groin. There can be a vibration, the flesh it is moving. The world sensual appeared by mistake in my police statement. When you use your elbow I said it can be sensual. I meant it can cause a sensation. I never said tantric massages either as they said I did. I said lymphatic drainage massages.’

Thanks to Urszula’s grit, they still have the salon...just. Business dropped by approximately 75 per cent and she had to apply for housing benefit while her husband was in prison. All their savings have gone. They have talked to their lawyer – Beverley Hamblin of Achillea & Co – about taking action against the police.

Urszula added: ‘I have a lot of respect for money, we work hard, we have never borrowed. How much has this case cost? And what for?’

Daniel will continue to work but will no longer treat woman. ‘No,’ he says. ‘The women say they were vulnerable but actually I was the vulnerable one. I think maybe massage in this country is quite basic in many places.

‘Then, on the other side, you have those phone boxes with all those girls offering massage and it is not performed as a professional treatment that can heal – but is seen as quite seedy.

‘I believe in the law still as I was innocent and I was found not guilty. But I do feel angry, I cannot help it. And disappointed. I only ever tried to do the best for my clients.’

Original report




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