Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
15YRS FOR KILLER7 WHO TORTURED MAN IN GARAGE
Court told of brutal drug-fuelled attack
A THUG who killed his victim in a garage where a third man was being tortured was handed a 15-year sentence yesterday.
Darius Sikorskas, 37, who was one of two males who beat, shot and stabbed a man in a drink and drug-induced incident, then turned on his fellow attacker.
Gediminus Stauskas died around eight hours after he was injured by Sikorskas.
Following the fatal attack, tape was placed over his head wound and a helmet was put over his head.
Sikorskas pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Stauskas, whose body was found in the upstairs area of the garage at Moor Road in Coalisland, Co Tyrone, on October 15, 2015.
He also admitted causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Grigorius Sviridovas and possessing a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence.
Branding the death of Mr Stauskas as “needless and tragic”, Madam Justice Mcbride handed an 11-year sentence to Sikorskas, from Lambfield House in Dungannon.
Sikorskas – who has a criminal record in his native country Lithuania as well as the Republic – was given an extended licence period of four years in a bid to protect the public.
Marius Dzimisevicius, 29, from Pomeroy, and 43-year-old Dmitrijus Indrisiunas, from Coalisland, admitted withholding information in the aftermath of Mr Stauskas’ death.
Both men were handed a 12-month sentence, suspended for two years.
Dungannon Crown Court, sitting in Belfast, heard Stauskas and Sikorskas seriously assaulted Mr Sviridovas over a two-day period.
Prosecutor David Mcdowell said after telling the victim to come to the garage, Stauskas and Sikorskas “insisted” he take cocaine, smoke heroin and drink
COURT YESTERDAY
with them. Mr Sviridovas was then subjected to a lengthy attack at the hands of the other two men in the office area of the garage.
He was punched and struck with an iron bar. After being threatened with a gun, Mr Sviridovas was forced to shoot himself in the thigh and the wound was later cauterised by Sikorskas using a knife he washed in brandy. Mr Mcdowell said Sikorskas and Stauskas then left the office and “came into contact”.
The lawyer said a plea to manslaughter was accepted to Sikorskas’ claim he “struck the deceased to the body with considerable force with the palm of his hand, causing him to fall forcefully to the floor and striking his head”.
He added: “To cause the severity of the injury, which caused his death, his head must have struck something in the fall, such as machinery on the garage floor.”
The court heard Sviridovas was carried out of the office by Sikorskas, where he saw Stauskas unconscious.
An effort was made to place him in the front seat of a car in the garage and he had tape applied to a wound on his head. A blanket was put round him and a helmet placed on his head.
Sikorskas let Mr Sviridovas leave the garage and he was dropped home by Dmitrijus Indristunas, who ran a business from the premises in question.
Mr Sviridovas was later taken to Craigavon Area Hospital by ambulance.
A police probe led to the remains of Stauskas being discovered in the garage.
He died from a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain.
Madam Justice Mcbride said after reading a victim impact statement from the deceased’s sister, it was clear Mr Stauskas’ death has had a “devastating impact” on his family.
She also noted the tortured man has been left with physical and psychologial problems, has undergone surgery three times and now lives in constant fear.