A man who caused devastating injuries in a savage attack was jailed for 10 years after a hearing at Lincoln Crown Court.
Atis Vetrins dragged his victim Saulius Rimkus from his bed then kicked and punched him to the head leaving him with serious brain injuries.
Mr Rimkus is now unable to walk or talk. He is expected to remain in hospital for another six months before being transferred to a nursing home. His future is described as “desperately bleak”.
Richard Thatcher, prosecuting, said the attack arose after Vetrins discovered his partner Vinetta Markus at Mr Rimkus’ flat in Portland Street, Lincoln, and came to the conclusion that they were having an affair.
Vetrins left but went back into the flat and took photographs of both Ms Markus and Mr Rimkus asleep in separate beds which he posted on Facebook.
He then returned again in the early hours of July 28 and let himself in with a key he had.
Mr Thatcher said: “A neighbour was present but left because the defendant was so aggressive.
“The defendant was of a mind to vent his fury. He went to Mr Rimkus who was asleep. He pulled him out of his bed and repeatedly punched and kicked him to the face and head.”
Vetrins left but it was hours before Mr Rimkus was found and the emergency services were called to the flat.
“Mr Rimkus was unconscious with blood coming from his mouth. 14 hours had elapsed since the assault on him.
“He was taken to hospital in Lincoln and then by air to the Queen’s Medical Centre.
“On arrival he was unresponsive. A scan revealed the extent of the damage. The doctor said the injuries were the sort of thing he has seen when someone has been hit by a car.”
Doctors carried out an operation to relieve the pressure on his brain.
He remained in hospital but subsequently contracted pneumonia and an infection.
After the attack Vetrins appeared to be proud of what he had done telling a friend “I knocked out that f***er of hers”.
Mr Thatcher said: “Mr Rimkus remains unresponsive. By mid-September his eyes were open but there remains no movement in his limbs. He is fed by tube and his bladder is drained by catheter.
“The prognosis for any meaningful recovery is desperately bleak. He is expected to remain in hospital for the next four to six months.”
Vetrins, 34, of Newark Road, North Hykeham, admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent as a result of the incident on July 28. He also admitted theft of a t-shirt belonging to Mr Rimkus.
Judge Simon Hirst, passing sentence, told Vetrins: “The future is desperately bleak for Mr Rimkus.
“He was a vulnerable victim. He was fast asleep in his own bed. It was a sustained attack and the injury is extremely serious.”
Edna Leonard, in mitigation, said: “There is a background to this but that is no excuse at all.
“This man had been working hard in this country and had been sending home money to his mother. He had a partner and they moved from Northampton in the hope that they could be a proper couple. Clearly he was angry with him and angry with her.
“It would appear that alcohol played a major part in the relationship and in the assault.”
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A 38-year-old man from a North Lincolnshire village charged with murder will face an eight-day trial later this year.
Emergency services were called at 4.23am on Saturday, July 2 to reports that a man was seriously injured on South Parade in central Doncaster.
The 28-year-old victim was taken to hospital but was sadly pronounced dead a short time later.
A post-mortem examination found that he died of injuries to his head, chest and abdomen.
Formal identification of the victim is yet to take place, South Yorkshire Police said earlier this week.
Steven Ling, 38, of Park Drain, Westwoodside in North Lincolnshire, has been charged with murder and was remanded in custody to appear at Doncaster Magistrates Court on Monday, July 4.
Ling later appeared at Sheffield Crown Court on Tuesday, July 5 for a plea and trial preparation hearing.
No pleas were entered during the hearing, but an eight-day trial was set for November 28, 2022. Ling has now been remanded into custody until the next hearing.
The Lincolnite went on a ride-along with a Lincolnshire Police officer from the force’s Roads Policing Unit (RPU), which aims to disrupt criminals’ use of the roads and reduce the number of serious and fatal accidents.
The team will support the county response including local policing, neighbourhood policing and criminal investigation too.
Operations first began in Grantham in January this year and started in Louth earlier this week with a sergeant and nine PCs based in both locations.
The Lincolnite went out on a ride-along with PC Rich Precious from Lincolnshire Police’s Roads Policing Unit. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
PC Rich Precious has been a police officer for 22 years after joining the force in 2000 and he recently rejoined the Roads Policing Unit, working out of Louth.
PC Precious, who also previously worked as a family liaison officer for road deaths for 16 years, took The Lincolnite out in his police car to the A1 up to Colsteworth and then back to Grantham. He described that particular area as “one of the main arterial routes that goes through Lincolnshire”.
PC Rich Precious driving down the A1 up to Colsterworth. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Speaking about the new Roads Policing Unit, he said: “It’s intelligence led policing, it’s targeted policing in areas that have been underrepresented in terms of police presence, on the roads certainly, over a number of years.
“We’re hoping that the development of this unit will help address that balance, and look towards using the ANPR system to prevent criminals’ use of the road, and to identify key areas or routes where there’s a high percentage of people killed or seriously injured on the road, what we commonly refer to as KSI.
PC Precious is helping to keep the roads safer in Lincolnshire. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
When asked if he thinks the new team will help reduce the number of serious and fatal accidents in the county, he added: “That’s what the the unit designed for. Sadly, in Lincolnshire our road network does seem to incur a number of those KSI accidents year on year, and we need to reduce that.
“I’ve worked additionally in my roles as a family liaison officer on road death for 16 years, so I’ve seen first hand the impact that road death has on families and victims families.
“I know it’s important that we try and reduce those because, it’s very sad to see how a fatal road traffic collision can affect a family and the victims of that family.”
Marc Gee, Inspector for Lincolnshire Police’s Roads Policing Unit. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Marc Gee, Inspector for the Roads Policing Unit, told The Lincolnite: “Every day there will be officers on duty from both teams and they’ll cover the whole county or the county’s roads.
“Eventually, we’ll have nine police cars and we’ve got six motorbikes. We’ll be utilising them with as many officers as we can every day basically to make our roads safer and enforce against the criminals who feel like it’s okay to come into the county and use our road for criminal purposes.”
Lincolnshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones at the launch of the force’s Roads Policing Unit. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
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