Former parish councillor 'shot sex worker after paying for breast enlargement operation'

A businessman and former parish councillor shot a sex worker when she ended their relationship after he paid for her breast enlargement operation, a court heard today.

Jonathan Kovacik, 58, gave Rosalynde Pitcher £6,000 in cash towards cosmetic surgery which saw her breasts increase from an A to a D cup because they were “too small and she didn’t like them”.

He also offered her £50,000 to “give up drugs, alcohol and the work” and marry him, Portsmouth Crown Court heard.

However, armed with a Walther CP88 competition air pistol, Kovacik is alleged to have flown into a fit of rage when he suspected the 21-year-old was “stringing him along” for his money.

The court heard Kovacik, from Shanklin, Isle of Wight, “fell in love” with Miss Pitcher while she described her three-month relationship with the former councillor as “open” and “friends with benefits”.

During an interview with police after the alleged attack on December 21 last year, Kovacik said: "There's no fool like an old fool."

The pair had known each other for a year before they started a relationship in September 2014, and during this time Miss Pitcher was working under various names for the website adultwork.com, which involves interacting with customers over the internet via a webcam while “not wearing many clothes”.

She also met some clients on occasions where they would “go out for drinks and stuff”, the court heard.

Kovacik, who has a property portfolio and owns a car garage, frequently “lavished” Miss Pitcher with a car and other expensive gifts, including £6,000 for a breast enlargement operation, the court heard.

However on December 21 last year he arranged to visit her flat at 5pm, armed with a pistol.

Miss Pitcher told the court she let Kovacik into her flat after he knocked on the door and asked to come in, claiming he only had “a few months to live”.

She said: "I walked to the lounge and he was behind me when I turned around and he had a gun pointing at me. I was just well, I don't remember saying anything.

"He was really quiet and wasn't saying much. He was holding the gun directly at me in his right hand and started walking towards me holding the gun at my head.

"I dropped to my knees and he put the gun directly to my head."

"I was screaming, I was just screaming 'help'. He was really quiet and just looked really angry and I had never seen that face on him before.

"He took the gun to my head and shot the gun. I was expecting to be dead - I thought I was going to die. But nothing happened and I didn't feel anything.

"He looked very shocked after that and then he started hitting me over the head with the gun."

Miss Pitcher was able to escape via a flight of stairs by her back door as Kovacik ran after her trying to grab her dressing gown, the court heard.

She managed to get away and alert the police.

Richard Onslow, defending Kovacik, asked Ms Pitcher: "He offered you 50,000 to give up drugs, alcohol and the work and if you did in 12 months he would write you a cheque?"

She replied: "No, he was offering 50,000 to have a baby with me," adding that if she fell pregnant it would have "stopped me having a breast enlargement operation."

Kovacik was apprehended by officers in Cowes, claiming he wanted to take his own life in a police standoff on December 21.

In interviews, he said remembered taking a diving knife and an air gun to her home over fears her father Lee Pitcher would be violent towards him.

Rob Griffiths, prosecuting, said: "He had been very good to her - he bought her a car, various presents and had given her money towards having a breast enlargement operation.

“He thought perhaps she had been stringing him along to get his money, and as he said at the end of his interview, 'there's no fool like an old fool'."

He denies four charges, including wounding with intent, possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and having an article with a blade or point.

He also denies possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear or violent towards officer PC Matthew Rumsey during the standoff.

Kovacik, who was once a parish councillor for Calbourne on the Isle of Wight, claims he was mentally unwell at the time of the attack and suffering from temporary insanity.

The trial continues.