Jury Rules Lithuanian Who Arrived in UK After Brexit Killed 9 Year Old Girl

Deividas Skebas, 23, was too mentally ill to face a murder trial

An undated image of Lilia Valutyte, 9, who was stabbed to death in Boston, England, on July 28, 2023. Family/Lincolnshire Police

A mentally ill immigrant from Lithuania stabbed a nine-year-old girl to death as she played hula-hoop in the street outside the shop where her mother worked, a jury has ruled.

The jury at Lincoln Crown Court, who saw CCTV footage of the attack on Lilia Valutyte in Boston, Lincolnshire, on July 28, 2022, ruled Deividas Skebas, 23, was the killer.

Mr. Skebas was deemed unfit to plead because of his mental health so, instead of a normal murder trial, a two-day trial of issue was held.

On Tuesday, after deliberating for only 15 minutes, the jury returned and confirmed Skebas was responsible for the girl’s death.

The jury had been told by prosecutor Christopher Donnellan, KC, told the jury Mr. Skebas first came to the UK from Lithuania in 2020, but returned home before arriving for a second stint only eight days before the death of Miss Valutyte, whose family were also from Lithuania.

Miss. Valutyte was playing with a hula-hoop outside the shop where her mother worked in the centre of Boston when she was attacked without warning.

A forensic officer near the scene after nine-year-old Lilia Valutyte was stabbed to death in Boston, Lincolnshire, England, on July 29, 2022. Joe Giddens/PA Media

The jury of six men and six women watched CCTV footage of Mr. Skebas running towards her, stabbing her and running away at 6:15 p.m. on a summer’s evening.

Mr. Donnellan said: “Although within less than a minute an off-duty police officer who was just going home and was nearby came to her aid, and was followed by other officers and the ambulance, sadly her life could not be saved and she was formally pronounced dead at 7:11 p.m. that evening.”

Murder Weapon ‘Tucked Behind a Radiator’

Mr. Skebas was arrested two days later and the murder weapon, a paring knife, was found “tucked behind a radiator” at his home in the town, along with a t-shirt which was stained with the dead girl’s blood.

During a police interview, Mr. Skebas said, “I grabbed the knife and I stabbed her.”

Mr. Skebas confirmed it was him in the CCTV footage and said he had noticed the girl playing in the street, although he could give no reason for why he attacked her.

The judge, Mrs. Justice McGowan, told the jury: “You have dealt with some very unpleasant material and I’m afraid that that is what juries do. I am also going to release you from jury service for the next five years, should you wish to be released.”

She then passed an indefinite hospital order on Mr. Skebas.

“Given the fact that he has been found to have killed a child, I am of the opinion that the only appropriate way to deal with the case is to make an order under Section 37 of the Mental Health Act 1983,” said the judge.

Mr. Skebas will be detained indefinitely at Rampton Hospital in Nottinghamshire.

In September 2022 Miss Valutyte’s mother Lina Savicke, and stepfather Aurelijus Savickas, joined 15 friends on a 30-mile fundraising walk from Boston to Lincoln.

Ms. Savicke said at the time: “We got a lot of support from people. We saw that so many people were supporting us.”

Boston is a market town surrounded by farming areas and is also home to a large Lithuanian community.

In the 2021 census around 4,000 residents gave Lithuania as their country of birth, which amounted to more 5 percent of the population.

Under the Brexit treaty agreed by then Prime Minister Boris Johnson, EU nationals were no longer entitled to automatic entry into the UK after Jan. 1, 2020.

It is not clear if Mr. Skebas was in the UK illegally or if he was on a sponsored work visa.

The Epoch Times contacted the Home Office for comment.