Court jails teen who stabbed man trying to stop tire slashing

A 15-year-old who stabbed a man trying to stop teenagers from slashing car tyres in Panevėžys has been sentenced to three years in prison and detained in the courtroom, LRT reported. The Panevėžys Regional Court found him guilty on Thursday of seriously injuring a person carrying out a civic duty.

The court changed the teenager’s measure from house arrest to detention after delivering its verdict. It also ordered him to pay €11,794 to the Compulsory Health Insurance Fund for the victim’s treatment. If the teenager lacks the funds, his legal representatives must pay. A further €35,300 was awarded to the victim for material and non-material damages, the prosecutor’s office said.

The 32-year-old man was injured on the evening of December 8 last year on Klaipėda Street. A passer-by told him she had seen three teenagers slashing tyres on cars parked near apartment buildings. He chased and detained two of them in a courtyard.

According to investigators, their 15-year-old friend then emerged from the dark. As the man tried to detain him, the teenager stabbed him six times in the head, neck, chest and back, then fled with the other two. Police identified and arrested the suspect that evening at the home of one of the teenagers.

The victim was taken to hospital by ambulance and received treatment for several months. Experts determined that his health had been seriously impaired.

The court treated the teenager’s confession and remorse as mitigating circumstances. It also found that he had committed the crime while under the influence of alcohol, an aggravating circumstance. The verdict can be appealed to the Court of Appeal of Lithuania within 20 days of its announcement.