A Jury has determined a man was responsible for the killing of a-nine year-old girl in Boston
Lilia Valutyte suffered a single stab wound to the chest last July
Last updated 11th Jul 2023
A man has been determined by a jury to have carried out the killing of a nine-year-old girl by stabbing her in broad daylight as she played in the street.
Lilia Valutyte suffered a single stab wound to the chest as she was playing with a hula hoop in Boston, Lincolnshire on the afternoon of July 28 last year.
Deividas Skebas was unanimously determined to have physically committed the act of killing Lilia by a jury, after around just 15 minutes of deliberation following a two-day trial of the facts at Lincoln Crown Court.
The 23-year-old had been deemed unfit to plead or face a conventional trial earlier this year, and did not attend the hearing or play any part in proceedings.
The jury could not deliver a verdict of guilty or not guilty of murder, due to a trial of the facts not deciding whether Skebas intended to kill, but instead had to make a determination as to whether he physically committed the act of killing.
Mrs Justice McGowan DBE is expected to sentence Skebas to a hospital order, the only sentence the court can pass, later on Tuesday.
What is a trial of facts
A trial of facts - also known as a finding of fact, trial of the act, or trial of the issue - is not to decide whether someone intended to commit an act or question a defendant's state of mind but to determine whether they physically did it.
While a defendant cannot be criminally convicted, the burden of proof for a jury remains beyond all reasonable doubt.