Jury hears closing speeches in murder trial

A jury has heard the closing speeches in the trial of a man accused of murdering a nine-year-old girl.

Lilia Valutyte was playing outside a shop where her mother was working in Boston, Lincolnshire, when she was stabbed to death by Deividas Skebas on 28 July 2022.

Skebas, 26, admits killing Lilia but denies murder, claiming his responsibility was diminished by his mental state.

A jury at Lincoln Crown Court heard three doctors agreed that Skebas had schizophrenia and was showing symptoms of psychosis on the day he killed Lilia. The prosecution alleges the killing was "deliberate and planned".

Addressing the jury in his closing speech at Lincoln Crown Court on Monday, prosecutor Christopher Donnellan KC said Skebas had been "prowling" around the area where Lilia was killed.

He said Skebas was not an "unintelligent man" and asked the jury to consider the evidence of medical clinician Laura Cross who visited Skebas shortly after the killing and did not observe any evidence of psychosis.

Skebas had also bought the knife from a local Wilko store two days before the stabbing, Donnellan added.

Defence barrister Andrew Campbell-Tiech KC said Skebas was a schizophrenia sufferer who killed Lilia after hearing voices.

He said expert psychiatric evidence heard during the trial concluded he was diminished by his mental illness on the day of the killing.

"That is what he told the police," Campbell-Tiech added.

The trial continues on Tuesday when the trial judge, Mr Justice Choudhory, will complete his summing up of the evidence before sending the jury out to consider its verdict.

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