Stranger who stabbed girl, 9, in the heart jailed for life

Описание: A knifeman who stabbed a nine-year-old girl outside her mother's embroidery shop was jailed for at least 25 years.

Deividas Skebas, 26, stabbed Lilia Valutyte in the heart as she played with a hula hoop in Boston, Lincolnshire, in July 2022.

An off-duty police officer tried to help save Lilia, but their efforts were unsuccessful.

Skebas, a Lithuanian who has schizophrenia and told police he was being controlled by a chip implanted in his brain by the US space agency NASA, denied murder but admitted manslaughter by diminished responsibility. He was convicted of the more serious charge by a jury.

Skebas was initially judged mentally unfit to stand trial in 2023, but that assessment changed in spring 2025 and he went on trial at Lincoln Crown Court.

Jurors were told there was no dispute he had killed Lilia but they had to decide what his state of mind was at the time of the attack.

Prosecutors said he had known what he was doing in stabbing Lilia - who would have turned 13 this year - and tried to avoid being caught.

Passing sentence, the judge, Mr Justice Choudhury, described Lilia as a "happy, lively girl as carefree as any nine-year-old should be", adding that Skebas committed a "shocking and horrific act of violence" on her.

He added: "She should have been safe. She was playing in a pedestrianised area and just yards away from her mum."

Imposing a life sentence with a minimum term of 25 years, the judge noted Skebas had been a user of drugs including cannabis and amphetamines, which would "likely worsen" his schizophrenia.

This video has been edited to comply with reporting restrictions.

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