Panevėžys man found guilty of killing Polish football fan

A court in Panevėžys has convicted a local man of killing a Polish football supporter following a 2024 clash, sentencing him to seven years in prison, LRT reports.

Panevėžys Regional Court on Monday found Ernestas Mečkauskas, 39, guilty of the fatal assault on a Polish national after a Champions League qualifying match between Jagiellonia Białystok and FK Panevėžys in July 2024. The victim died three weeks after being struck in the jaw with a brass knuckle, falling onto concrete pavement.

The court ordered Mečkauskas to pay €80,000 in non-pecuniary damages—split as €35,000, €15,000, and €30,000—to the victim’s relatives, plus 5% annual interest. His one day in pre-trial detention will count toward his sentence.

According to case materials, the altercation occurred on 23 July 2024 when Mečkauskas and an accomplice confronted the 39-year-old Polish fan outside the stadium. After striking the victim, both men fled in a car. The injured fan was initially taken to hospital by ambulance staff but left before treatment. Police later found him at a bus stop with severe facial injuries and a skull fracture; he underwent surgery but died weeks later.

Mečkauskas admitted to hitting the man, claiming self-defence, and acknowledged leaving the scene out of fear of retaliation from other Polish fans. Prosecutors later reclassified the case from grievous bodily harm to murder following the victim’s death. The verdict is not yet final and may be appealed.