Court jails Lithuanian man for life over murder
A Lithuanian national who fatally stabbed a Latvian man in Swords last year has been jailed for life by the Central Criminal Court after a jury found him guilty of murder.
Mantas Pauliukonis had denied murdering Alesandrs Filusins by stabbing him in the thigh, severing his femoral artery, following a row at a "Russian" disco.
The jury of six men and six women spent five hours and 19 minutes over two days considering its majority verdict of ten to two. It also convicted Pauliukonis (aged 25), with an address at Park West Crescent, Clondalkin, of assaulting another man, Sergej Cuksejev, outside the disco at Taylor's Public House.
The court heard during the course of the seven-day trial that the deceased was a 28-year-old married man with two young children. His family had remained in Riga and he worked six days a week here as a farm labourer to send money back to them.
In the early hours of Sunday June 3, 2007, Mr Filusins was hunted down by Pauliukonis after he had intervened in a fight outside the disco, injuring Pauliukonis' uncle.
Pauliukonis, along with two other people, had followed the deceased in a car and chased him into the back garden of a house on Oaklands Avenue, Swords. There, Mr Filusins was stabbed a number of times in the legs. He died later in hospital as a result of massive blood loss.
Mr Justice George Birmingham thanked the jury for its service and imposed a mandatory life sentence on Pauliukonis. He will sentence the defendant on November 17 in relation to the assault charge.
The jury heard that Pauliukonis bragged about the killing to a security man at the disco at Taylor's Public House in Swords shortly after the incident. He had said "at least we got him... we stabbed him up".
Pauliuknois was at the disco that night with friends and his uncle. As they were leaving in the early hours Mr Cuksejev, who did not know Pauliukonis, got into the defendant's car looking for a lift.
Pauliukonis and his friends removed Mr Cuksejev from the vehicle and attacked him. The deceased intervened to protect Mr Cuksejev and threw a punch which hit Pauliukonis' uncle, knocking out two teeth.
Evidence was heard that Paulikonis became so incensed he pulled out a knife. Mr Filusins left the scene but was followed in a car by Pauliukonis and two others.
A resident at Oaklands Avenue heard men shouting in a foreign language and saw three men leaving his garden. He then found Mr Filusins bleeding heavily at his back door.
The deceased's femoral artery had been severed. He was taken to hospital and operated on later died as a result of massive blood loss.
