A painful family drama in Vilnius: he went to work and did not return, he had to be taken to the coffin

“The son was a healthy man, but he went to work and did not return,” the mother of the man who died at work still cannot accept the painful loss.

At the time, the Vilnius City District Court ruled that Mantas Kazlauskas, a Stimelit employee, who was driving a truck and fatally injuring a colleague, was guilty of neglect of life deprivation, violating established special rules of conduct. by the law.

Judge Inga Štuopienė, who examined the criminal case, decided to impose a two-year prison sentence on M. Kazlauskas, postponing his execution for the same period. During the postponement of the execution of the sentence, the convicted person is obliged to work or register with the Employment Service, not to leave the place of residence without the permission of the Probation Service.

He is also sanctioned for working 40 free hours in a year in health care, social services or other state or non-state institutions and organizations.

According to the court, although M. Kazlauskas committed a negligent crime in violation of the rules of special conduct established by law, “his commission was also caused by the behavior of the victim when he did not comply with the requirements of safe conduct at work. – performed work that did not meet the occupational safety requirements “

The judge who heard the criminal case also pointed out that the employer, Stimelit, had not taken the appropriate organizational measures to make the truck available to those who did not have the right to work with it.

“An employee who was seriously injured during the crime and later died from the injuries,” the court said in a conviction that the accident had occurred in a warehouse.

“In this case, it was established that the employee died at the workplace due to an accident that occurred due to violations of employee health and safety requirements, which had to be guaranteed by the director of the company”, Judge I. Štuopienė ruled that Stimelit will have to pay 20,000. moral damage, although they claimed seven times the amount. Another 5 thousand. The Eur company is obliged to pay the sister of the deceased.

Previously, Stimelit management had paid 15,000 victims. Eur, more than 26 thousand. They were paid an insurance benefit in euros.

The accident, for which M. Kazlauskas, an employee of a company dedicated to the production of construction mixtures, was convicted, occurred in 2019. on July 5, around 11 am, when the driver of a truck with a forklift Toyota diesel is about 12 km / h. He transported two pallets of products to the warehouse at high speed, which blocked his way. Unexpectedly, near the curve, the truck he was driving collided with an Artison truck stopped in front of the road, which was moving forward from the impact.

Then Kazlauskas heard the cry of the man: he fled to see what had happened, he saw a locksmith for the operation of natural gas systems next to poly bags stacked on a pallet, one foot of which was pressed with the forks of a truck Artison raised around. 30 cm from the ground.

“I went back a bit on my own and the other truck to release the coworker’s right leg, which the right fork of the fork had pressed against the poly bags,” said the processed trucker.

While trying to rescue his colleague, M. Kazlauskas bandaged his leg and ran for help, and soon other employees ran towards the victim, one of his pants pulled out the belt and squeezed the injured colleague’s leg.

Police officers, ambulance doctors, soon arrived on the scene and took the seriously injured man to hospital.

“My son’s employer called me at home and said he had been seriously injured,” the mother, who lost her son, told the court. – I did not think I was so seriously injured, but when my daughter and I went to the hospital, we were told here that the son was taken to a state of clinical death. He received a blood transfusion, then underwent surgery, went into cardiac arrest during surgery, and died clinically. After the operation, he was transferred to the Resuscitation Department, but did not regain consciousness for three weeks and then died of complications. “

In their conclusion, specialists from the Lithuanian Forensic Science Center wrote about how the accident happened at work: “M. Kazlauskas, while carrying a bulky Toyota (which obstructed the front view), collided with an Artison pickup stopped in front of a curve, which, advancing, pressed the employee’s leg against the polyethylene rolls and seriously injured her.

The cause of the accident and the main condition is that M. Kazlauskas unsafe driving the truck in such a way that it collided with the Artison truck (stopped on the road), injuring the victim with forks, pressing it against the polyethylene rollers . The work carried out by M. Kazlauskas did not comply with the requirements of the UAB Internal Traffic Regulation Stimelit that it is prohibited to drive when the work area is not visible, as well as with the instruction requirement to reverse if the transported load obstructs the road and creates a dangerous risk for the victim. The accident was caused by the actions of the Toyota driver in the unsafe operation of the truck. “

According to the experts, the work carried out by M. Kazlauskas did not meet the requirements of the employer’s Internal Traffic Regulations and Instructions and this generated a dangerous risk for the victim: “the signalman would show him the way.”

M. Kazlauskas, who was prosecuted for negligent deprivation of life, argued that it was forbidden to walk or not be allowed in the room where he should drive, so he was convinced that there was nothing in the room.

“In a rush to unload the cargo, I risked driving in front of me without seeing anything, so I collided with another truck, which crashed and crushed another company employee,” he said.

The court that heard the criminal case determined that Mr. Kazlauskas had committed a crime, although in violation of the special rules of conduct established by the legal acts, but also due to the victim’s behavior, when he did not comply with the conduct requirements safe in the workplace. and the fact that the employer, Stimelit, did not provide adequate organizational arrangements for unauthorized access to the truck.

The verdict handed down by the Vilnius City District Court has not yet entered into force, it can be appealed.