Man sentenced to 14 years for attempted murder in Klaipėda

Klaipėda Regional Court has sentenced a man to 14 years and three months in prison for attempted murder driven by hooligan motives, the court announced on Tuesday, as reported by BNS.

The defendant, Vilmantas Plivė, who has nine prior convictions, was also ordered to pay 500 euros in non-pecuniary damages to the victim.

The court considered the severity of the crime, its dangerous nature, the form of guilt, and the defendant’s character in determining the sentence. According to the court, Plivė attempted to take a life just over seven months after his release from a long-term prison sentence.

The incident occurred in April this year in a shopping centre’s security room. While intoxicated, Plivė verbally abused the victim, threatened to cut off his head and kill him, then grabbed the victim’s neck with his left hand and attempted to stab him with a knife in his right. The victim resisted, grabbing Plivė’s left hand and breaking free, while a bystander restrained Plivė’s right hand, causing him to drop the knife. The crime remained unfinished due to circumstances beyond Plivė’s control.

The court ruled that the defendant acted out of a frivolous motive, believing he had been unjustly detained, while ignoring basic moral and behavioural norms and showing disrespect to those around him. The hooligan motives were evident in the unprovoked aggression against a victim he barely knew, with no personal relationship between them.

The verdict can be appealed within 20 days.