Man jailed for trying to poison his mother

A court in Panevėžys sentenced Rimantas Šimėnas to eight years and six months in prison for attempting to kill his mother, LRT reported.

The Panevėžys Regional Court found that Šimėnas, while intoxicated, put rodent poison called Rodimur paste into a kettle in Biržai district on January 18. The poison contained difenacoum, which can disrupt blood clotting and cause death without timely medical care.

The court said Šimėnas knew his mother regularly used water from the kettle to take her medication. She drank some of the poisoned water but stopped when she noticed an unusual taste. After seeing blue residue, she called for medical help. Specialists said the substance in the kettle and cup posed a real threat to life, but no poison traces or health effects were found in the woman. Doctors had washed her stomach.

Šimėnas told the court he did not intend to kill his mother and could not remember how the poison got into the kettle. The court concluded he had deliberately added it with the intention of causing her death. Its decision was based on witness testimony about threats he made that day, his actions involving the poison and expert findings.

In setting the sentence, the court considered that the crime was not completed, the consequences, the victim’s position and Šimėnas’s intoxication. His blood alcohol level was 2.18 per mille, which the court said had directly contributed to his aggressive behaviour. Given his previous violence and conviction for threatening the same victim, the court classified him as a repeat offender.

The court also granted a civil claim by the State Health Insurance Fund and ordered Šimėnas to pay about 2,000 euros for the woman’s treatment. The ruling can still be appealed.