Killer’s court appeal

Man jailed over best pal’s death bids to cut jail term

A MAN convicted of killing his “best friend” in a Dundee block of flats has launched a legal appeal against his sentence.

Aldis Minakovskis, 26, was jailed for 13 years and eight months for culpable homicide at the High Court in Edinburgh on March 10 this year.

He was convicted after a trial at the High Court in Aberdeen of the killing of his Latvian friend, Aigars Upenieks, at a flat in Thurso Crescent.

Minakovskis, who was initially tried for murdering the dad-of-five, stabbed him three times during the attack, on December 23 2015.

But now, three months after he was jailed, agents from Paterson Bell are set to appeal the sentence at the Court of Appeal in Edinburgh next Tuesday.

While a spokeswoman for the law firm confirmed the appeal would take place, they declined to comment on what the appeal would centre on.

During the trial, the court heard that an argument ensued following a drinking session involving Minakovskis, Mr Upenieks and Mr Upenieks’s wife, Jolanta. The three had spent the night drinking at a flat on Thurso Crescent.

When Mr Upenieks fell asleep around 3am his wife and Minakovskis went to get more alcohol.

Mr Upenieks woke up and made an angry phone call to Minakovskis, accusing him of having an affair with Mrs Upenieks.

Minakovskis returned to the block alone and the pair ended up in a physical struggle. Four puncture wounds were found on Mr Upieneks’ body, one of which was a 26cm stab wound to the right shoulder, severing one of the large arteries in the lung.

The jury rejected Minakovskis’s plea of self-defence but found there was no intention to kill or “wicked recklessness”, leading to the culpable homicide conviction.

In Scotland, the maximum penalty for culpable homicide is life imprisonment. However, the court rarely imposes the maximum sentence, as it is a lesser crime than murder, which carries a mandatory life term.

Aldis MinAkovskis, pictured outside court during his triAl.