Sister of Brit who died after drinking 22 shots at strip club wants answers
A grieving sister has spoken out after her brother was forced to down 22 shots within 90 minutes before being robbed and left for dead.
Mark Cocks, 36, was on holiday in Kraków, Poland, in 2017 when he is believed to have been targeted by a tourist-robbing gang at the Wild Night strip club.
Mark was repeatedly offered drinks by the group even as he refused them – 22 shots later, he collapsed and later died in October of that year.
The cause of death was alcohol poisoning, Poland’s National Prosecutor’s Office said, with a lethal blood alcohol content of at least 0.4%.
Police said Mark was robbed of 2,200 złoty – about £420 – while he was left for dead at the establishment.
Some six years after he was killed, Polish authorities confirmed on April 13 that they have charged seven people in connection to Mark’s death.
The seven are among 58 charged with allegedly being part of a sprawling crime group in the city, Polish Central Police Investigation Bureau (CBSP) said.
With more than 700 criminal charges filed, the Polish authorities said the group ran a racker where nightclub staffers get bottles of alcohol down patrons to rob them.
Club owners, the police alleged, would then trick them into taking out loans to cover their bar tabs.
In a string of raids on nightclubs, police detained suspects and confiscated electronic devices, computers, cash and phones.
But for his sister Samantha, this simply isn’t good enough.
She claimed that since her brother’s death, no one has been held accountable, leaving the family feeling ‘forgotten’.
An earlier inquest produced a verdict of accidental death with no criminal charges.
Samantha told The Sun: ‘The last we heard from the serious crime squad – who were investigating Mark’s death and dealing with the inquest – was that they weren’t looking into the crimes and goings on in those establishments.
‘So why is this coming out now?’
Samantha disputed parts of the police account, which claimed that Mark was drunk when he arrived at the club.
In a statement, the force said: ‘One of the leads investigated by the investigators in the case concerns the victim who was driven to a state of intoxication, causing loss of consciousness, and then death as a result of acute alcohol poisoning.’
They added: ‘The man was not given medical assistance during the incident. Provisional arrests were made against those suspected of this act.’
Samantha has been demanding justice for years, having previously commented on the club’s review page: ‘My brother’s death in this vile establishment needs to be made aware of!’
After her son lost his life, Mark’s mother, Pat, told Teesside Live: ‘He didn’t have a bad word about anyone, and nobody had a bad word about him.
‘He was always happy and upbeat, and positive.
‘He didn’t have a bad word about anyone, and nobody had a bad word about him.
‘Mark was supposed to walk me down the aisle when I get married next year – he’ll be missed so much by everyone.’
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