The head of the burglary squad who led the investigation into the brutal attack on academic Paul Kohler said he hopes the family can find closure after meeting one of the attackers today.

Wandsworth Times:

Detective Inspector Dan O'Sullivan, of Wimbledon CID

Detective Inspector Dan O'Sullivan, of Wimbledon CID, was highly praised by trial judges in January after his team tracked down and convicted four men who forced their way into the Kohler household and beat Mr Kohler until he was unrecognisable.

The men are serving lengthy prison sentences for the attack, which they admitted, in Kings Road, Wimbledon on August 11 last year.

Today, the father-of-four and his wife Samantha MacArthur will meet one of them – 33 year-old Mariusz Tomaszewski to ask questions about the day that changed their lives forever.

Father-of-four Paul Kohler brutally beaten by four burglars in Kings Road, Wimbledon will meet one of them after failed appeal to reduce 19 year jail sentence

The meeting, as part of a restorative justice programme, will mean Mr Kohler and Ms MacArthur will sit face-to-face with Tomaszewski and a mediator in prison.

Mr Kohler is expected to ask questions about why the attack happened and why the family were targeted – questions that fell on deaf ears when the brave head of the School of Law at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) read a statement out loud in the courtroom as the four were sentenced in January.

Tomaszewski, 33, Crusoe Road, Mitcham, and Pawel Honc, 24, of no fixed address, were jailed for 19 years each after admitting causing grievous bodily harm with intent and aggravated burglary.

Oskar Pawlowicz, 30, Pitcairn Road in Mitcham, and Dawid Tychon, 30, of no fixed address, who admitted aggravated burglary, were sentenced to 13 years each.

All four tried to appeal against their sentences, imposed in January this year, but only Tomaszewski’s reached the courtroom.

Appeal judges rejected the application for leave to appeal the sentence on Thursday, November 5.

DI O’Sullivan said: "At the moment the most important thing is the family are looking for closure by meeting the defendant and hearing what he has to say.

"It might shed some light on why it happened.

"That is still unknown."

He said the meeting was unusual and does not happen very often, especially with such high profile cases.

The vicious attack and the family’s subsequent public pleas for help in tracing Pawlowicz who went on the run, was covered by the national press.

Officers looked into a number of reasons why the attack happened, but did not draw any definitive conclusions.

One theory at the time was that next-door neighbour Keiron Rowe was supposed to be the one targeted by the gang.

January 2015: Wimbledon thug held women at gunpoint in Tooting streets

Rowe was later sentenced to eight years in prison, on Tuesday, January 18 this year at Kingston Crown Court after he pleaded guilty to two armed robberies in Tooting.

Mr Kohler says he still suffers from double vision in his left eye.