Man who stabbed nine-year-old girl to death in Boston sentenced

Lilia Valutyte died from a single stab wound to the heart as she played with a hula-hoop and another young child in Fountain Lane last summer.

The tragedy occured outside the shop where her mother was working on July 28 last year.

Her mother's ‘anguished screams’ were described by an off-duty police officer who was first to the scene and tried to save Lilia.

Deividas Skebas, 23, was charged with Lilia's murder but could not stand trial due to being unfit because of his mental health.

Instead, a trial of the facts took place over two days and a jury of six men and six women took just 15 minutes to determine that Skebas carried out the killing.

The court was told that Skebas committed the offence just three weeks after re-entering the UK from his home country of Lithuania, having lived in the UK before.

The trial judge, Mrs Justice McGowan DBE assured jurors that Skebas, who is currently detained in Rampton psychiatric hospital and did not attend the hearing, will now face an unlimited hospital order.

“You have dealt with some very unpleasant matters,” Mrs Justice McGowan told the jury.

“I have now got to make an order dealing with Mr Skebas. There is no question he will be detained at Rampton for an unlimited time.”

Mrs Justice McGowan added that Skebas could still face a murder trial if his mental health improved.

Following the jury's decision, evidence was given to the court by psychiatrist Dr Ian Yanson, who is the clinician for Skebas in Rampton Hospital.

Dr Yanson confirmed Skebas continued to suffer from psychotic symptoms and had not responded positively to the medication given to him.

The doctor said Skebas spent most of his time in his room and could become irritable, talking to himself.

He agreed an unrestricted Section 41 hospital order was suitable as without it Skebas would continue to present a danger to the public.

Passing a Section 41 unlimited hospital order, Mrs Justice McGowan said she was satisfied Skebas was suffering from a psychiatric illness and schizophrenia.

Given the offence involved the death of a child and his previous mental history, Mrs Justice McGowan said the hospital order would mean no period would be placed on the time Skebas is detained.

Jurors heard a Sabatier paring knife found behind a radiator at the multi-occupancy house where Skebas was staying in Thorold Street, Boston, was consistent with the stab wound inflicted on Lilia.

Traces of Lilia's blood were also found on a grey Calvin Klein t-shirt which was recovered from Thorold Street and belonged to Skebas.

Police officer Stuart Clements, who examined hours of CCTV from the area of the killing, also described a distinctive walk which matched Skebas and a mark on his arm.

Prosecutor Christopher Donnellan KC described how Skebas moved towards Lilia before stabbing her and running away.

Mr Donnellan said: “Just after 6.15pm in the late afternoon, early evening of July 28 last year, Lilia Valutyte, a little girl aged nine, was playing outside a shop where her mother was actually working in Boston town centre.

“The defendant, Mr Skebas, approached, quickening his pace as he moved towards (her), then reaching behind his back.

“He pulled out a knife. He continued with his pace.

“He thrust the knife straight into her chest and through into her heart.

“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 7.11pm that evening."

“The prosecution case is that he unlawfully killed her with that single stab wound to the chest.

“You are only deciding whether he did it. You don’t have to decide about his intention or indeed about his mental state.”

A trial of facts – also known as a finding of fact or a trial of the issue – is used to determine whether an accused, who is not fit to plead or stand in a criminal trial, committed an alleged act.

A defendant cannot be found guilty or not guilty but can be found to have either carried out or not carried out an act.

The focus is not to decide whether someone intended to commit an act or question a defendant’s state of mind but to decide whether a defendant physically did it.

While the burden of proof for a jury remains beyond all reasonable doubt, a court can only sentence a defendant to a hospital order.

Addressing the jury before the start of the trial, Mrs Justice McGowan DBE said: “You are not going to be asked to say guilty or not guilty because this is not a normal trial.

“The defendant in this case is seriously mentally ill and he is not here and can’t play a proper part in the trial.

“It has already been decided that he is unfit to plead because of his mental illness.

“What you are going to be asked to do is not to say whether he is guilty or not guilty but whether he is responsible for the acts.

“This is a serious and sad case and you will be reminded a number of times to try and put emotion to one side.

“It is important."

Mr Donnellan told the jury that that Skebas, 23, first came to the UK from Lithuania in 2020, and then returned to his home country before arriving in the UK for a second time on July 2, 2022.

After arriving in Boston, he was seen on CCTV buying a Sabatier paring knife from a Wilko shop in the town two days before the killing, and in the hours prior was seen walking around the town centre.

In one clip, moments before her death, Lilia was seen playing outside the shop in which her mother worked, with Skebas seen standing at the top of Fountain Lane.

Dressed in a grey T-shirt and jeans, Skebas was then seen walking towards his victim, with Lilia moving out of the way as he approached before he stabbed her and ran away past off-duty Det Con Andrew Pearson.

Mr Donnellan said: “(The police officer) thought something must have happened because he heard a noise.

“His first instinct was to follow the man who by now was running away.

“He hears screams which stop him from going after that man, and he turns and goes back into Fountain Lane and finds Lilia.

“He immediately realised he has to do something. He started straight away trying to preserve her life.”

Giving evidence, Det Con Pearson said he heard a noise similar to a ‘metallic clank’ and was about to chase the man who ran past him before hearing an ‘anguished’ scream from behind.

Skebas was arrested on July 30 after a public appeal. He was interviewed a day later and admitted placing the knife used to stab Lilia in his back pocket.

Mr Donnellan said: “He admitted that he had stabbed Lilia.

“He admitted he has seen (her) playing in the street.

“He identified himself in the CCTV extracts.”