Murder accused claims stabbing was accidental

SCENE Gardaí at the house in Claremorris where Dovydas Jenkus died as a result of a stabbing. Pic: Keith Heneghan/Phocus

The trial of a 17-year-old male charged with the murder of a 17-year-old male in Claremorris last year will continue today.
The young male, who cannot be named because he is under 18, is charged with the murder of Dovydas Jenkas (17) of Mount Street, Claremorris at Claremount Manor housing estate on the Knock Road in Claremorris on December 19, 2015.
The trial commenced last Tuesday and continues into its second week today (Tuesday).
Opening the trial, Patrick McGrath, prosecuting senior counsel, outlined the background of the case to the jury of eight women and four men.
The victim and the accused were known to each other and both had moved to the Claremorris area with their families from their native Lithuania some years ago.
At the time of the incident the accused was 16. His parents had separated in Lithuania and he and his then 14-year-old sister were living with their mother in Claremount Manor.
On the night in question, the accused’s mother was visiting a friend in Castlebar and his sister invited Dovydas Jenkas around without her brother’s knowledge. He arrived at approximately 11.30am. Her brother was playing video games in his bedroom most of that night, the court heard.
They were watching YouTube videos in her mother’s room when the accused, upon hearing voices in the room, knocked and tried to get in but the door was locked. Subsequently Dovydas Jenkas went into the en-suite bathroom and the accused’s sister opened the door.
He demanded to know who was in the bathroom and tried to push the door open but Dovydas Jenkas was pushing it closed on the other side.
The accused then went into his own bedroom and picked up a homemade knife and when he returned to the back of the upstairs of the house, he could see out the window Dovydas Jenkas climbing out of the house and into the back garden.
The accused ran downstairs and chased Mr Jenkas in the garden, with both youths circling a trampoline.
Mr McGrath said that at some stage during the chase, Mr Jenkas stopped unexpectedly, turned around and was stabbed in the side by the accused.
The defence case is that the stabbing was an accident after Mr Jenkas stopped and turned quickly. The prosecution case is that the medical evidence is not consistent with a stab wound inflicted in such an ‘impaling’ type injury and that there was intent in the accused’s actions.  
The court was told the stab wound led to ‘rapid lung collapse’. A neighbour of the accused said upon hearing screams, she arrived at the house shortly after the incident and said the accused was crying uncontrollably.
The accused’s sister told the court via video link that when she got into the back garden, Dovydas Jenkas was ‘breathing really hard, tried to get up, got up, walked a few steps and fell down again’.
The court heard of frantic efforts to revive Mr Jenkas but they were ultimately unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at 3.40am.
The trial continues today Tuesday.