Lithuanian jailed over countryman's knife death

A 50-year-old Lithuanian man who killed a colleague with a chicken filleting knife was today sentenced to seven years in jail.

Algimantas Stankevicius was last month found guilty of the manslaughter of Arunas Petrauskas at the poultry factory in Co. Monaghan where they both worked.

At the Central Criminal Court, Judge Barry White said he was of the view that society was becoming increasingly violent and that there was a knife culture among a certain element of people who placed little or no value on human life. But he said when he looked at Mr Stankevicius, he saw a man who had committed an offence that was totally out of character.

“It seems to me the accused man is genuinely remorseful for what has happened and he is a person who is unlikely to re-offend in the future,” he said.

He imposed a 10-year sentence but suspended the final three years, and because Stankevicius has already spent four years in custody since the death of his co-worker in 2002, he will be eligible for release within three years.

Stankevicius came to Ireland in 2000 and got a job at Cootehill Poultry Products factory in Dyan, Co. Monaghan, where he was described as a good worker. But on February 23, 2002, he got into a verbal argument with Petrauskas, 46, a fellow Lithuanian who worked at the factory.

It degenerated into a fist fight with Mr Petrauskas getting the upper hand before Stankevicius went to the male locker room in the factory and returned with a knife. The court heard that he inflicted a single stab wound on Mr Petrauskas, who was originally unaware that he had been stabbed, but later died in hospital.

Superintendent Hugh Coll, who led the investigation, said Stankevicius had sat trembling outside in the cold after what had happened.

“He appeared to be in a state of shock after realising what had happened and I think in his interviews, he expressed regret to the family of the deceased for what had happened,” he said.

The state pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy found that the single stab wound had punctured a major blood vessel and described it as most unusual.

The court heard evidence from the widow of the deceased man, Vida Petrauskiene. She said she had been married to him for four years and had done everything together with him.

“We loved each other so much and he was very responsible, sensible and attentive to me and my children,” she said.

Petrauskas had three children from his previous marriage, while his wife had two children from hers. Mrs Petrauskiene said the killing of her husband had caused major trauma to her morally and financially. “My life went upside down, my health got worse and I still have depression,” she said.

She added that it had been very painful for her to listen to what she called Stankevicius’s lying evidence.

“He is very lucky that the trial took place in Ireland because the laws in our country are stricter,” she said.

Speaking after the verdict, she expressed disappointment with the length of the sentence.

“It’s too short. Seven years for killing someone is too short.”

The court heard that the governor of Castlerea Prison in Roscommon, where Stankevicius has been held in custody, had written a letter in which he said the man had expressed genuine remorse and was unlikely to re-offend in the future. Stankevicius himself took the stand and told the court through an interpreter that he was very sorry for what had happened.

“I certainly didn’t want that to happen. When I learnt in hospital that he’d died, I felt very bad and I didn’t want to live myself,” he said.

“I have been in prison for four years now and I still can’t forget this as I feel very sorry,” he added.

Stankevicius said the first thing he would do when he got out of prison would be to visit his 72-year-old mother in Lithuania who is suffering from cancer. He then plans to return to Ireland to live with his only daughter Lorena Stankeviciute, who has recently had a baby daughter with her partner in West Cork.

“I would like to see my grandchild as quickly as possible,” he said.

Stankevicius had originally been found guilty of the murder of Petrauskas in 2003 but this verdict was overturned at the Court of Criminal Appeal which ordered a retrial.