The 18-year-old drunk BMW driver was driving 185 km / h. speed, but escaped murder charges

The tragedy occurred at midnight on June 13, 2020. Within the city limits of Šventežeris, where the speed limit is 50 km / h, T. Jančiūnas, 21, who was driving a BMW, was driving a motorcycle in the same direction.

“First I passed the motorcycle, then the car behind me passed me and I heard a knock,” said the witness to the accident. – The speed of the car was enormous, I could not see its brand or its color. When I passed, my car even shook, as if a truck had passed. “

Seeing the collision, the man turned and rushed to the rescue, but there was nothing more he could do. Debris was everywhere, a helmet was thrown onto the road, and the body of a terribly injured motorcyclist flew into the roadside bushes. A few hundred yards away, he noticed a flashing car alarm.

“I thought the driver had run away because he didn’t think the car could have flown that far,” the witness recalled.

After the collision, BMW flew into the ditch and rolled over, but its driver and passenger remained healthy. They both agreed to lie to officers at first that an escaped stranger was sitting behind the wheel. But no one believed such a tale. T. Jančiūnas was set at 2.12 avg. drunkenness.

Birthday celebration

That night, T. Jančiūnas celebrated his acquaintance’s birthday by the lake, first he drank 5 cans of beer and then switched to vodka. During the investigation, he told officers that he was sitting behind the wheel of a drunk to go shopping for alcohol and cigarettes. But in court, his story changed.

“I was planning to spend the night in a tent, but there was a conflict with my friend at the lake, he hit me in the face, so I left without wanting to argue further,” said T. Jančiūnas.

The existence of the conflict was confirmed by other participants in the celebration, but the exact cause of it is not clear. The friend himself said that they had fallen asleep because he did not allow T. Jančiūnas to get drunk at the wheel.

“I didn’t want him to drive after drinking, I took his keys and hid him by the fire because he had already started the car,” he said.

Other witnesses suggested that T. Jančiūnas was so drunk that it was not even possible to talk to him normally.

Nobody noticed how T. Jančiūnas left the camp together with another boy from the company.

“We only heard the sound of tires turning, the car just shone. Then we saw that Tom and Laurynas were gone,” the witnesses recalled.

The defendant himself said in court that he had decided to go to the nearby town where his childhood friend lived and spend the night with him.

“I was not at home. I relied on my driving experience, the car had just been repaired, the road was familiar and the surface was good, there was hardly any traffic at night, so I decided to drive home,” taught T. Jančiūnas in the court.

He argued that while passing through Šventežeris, he was blinded by a car coming in front of him with high beams.

“After passing that car in the front, about 20 meters away, I saw a dim red light. I braked suddenly, but there was nothing I could do, one second a hit. The car was thrown into the ditch, “recalls T. Jančiūnas.

Both the driver and passenger got out of an overturned BMW, and a girl who ran toward them asked if they needed help.

“I replied that it is not necessary, but there is a battered motorcyclist. He ran for help, “said the culprit. He was arrested after the incident and then detained for two weeks.

Planned to grow

The parents of the 18-year-old deceased learned of the tragedy the next morning. In the evening, the son went to see some friends and promised to return around midnight. He was completely sober at the time of the accident.

“He always came back at the agreed time,” said the young man’s mother. “I wrote him a message at 5 in the morning that I couldn’t find him at home, and in the morning the police reported the accident.”

It is very difficult for parents to survive such a great loss, after the accident they lost their health and had to take sedatives.

People who knew the dead young man responded with only the best words. He belonged to the Lithuanian Rifle Union, was a young marksman and an active member of the school community.

The boy was full of energy, enjoyed life, had many friends and always helped everyone. He also worked a lot on his parents’ farm, which made their daily routine easier.

After graduating, the boy planned to study and then return to his parents’ house and pursue organic farming with his brother.

“We plan to leave him on the farm, hoping to have comfort and peace around him for the rest of his life,” said his mother.

The tragedy affected not only the parents of the deceased young man, but also his older brother and sister.

“I am suffering from insomnia, there is no day for me not to think about it. Every time he remembers gathering tears, the lump constricts his throat, ”his brother said of the loss in court.

He alluded to helping his brother choose the Yamaha WR125X motorcycle, which he drove on a fateful night. He saved money for this vehicle by picking strawberries abroad in the summer.

The parents demanded 300 thousand from the culprit of the accident. euros for moral damage, and brother and sister 80 thousand. euros. However, the court awarded a much smaller amount, in total T. Jančiūnas will have to pay 26,500 euros to his relatives.

Part of the damage was covered by insurance, with € 18,200 paid to parents and € 3,035 to siblings. This money is likely to be recovered by insurers and is to blame for the accident.

Such amounts are allocated in accordance with the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of Lithuania, according to which the loss of a loved one is usually imposed from 3 thousand. up to 32 thousand. euros.

I did not recognize the murderer

Although the aim was to have T. Jančiūnas found responsible for his murderous act and sentenced under article 129 of the Penal Code, the judge examining the case, Daiva Jankauskienė, did not support that position.

“The circumstances of the case show that T. Jančiūnas, although seriously in violation of KET requirements, acted recklessly and felt guilty, leading him to conclude that he realized that the consequences of his actions were highly probable or even unavoidable.

The traffic accident happened around 12 noon. at night, when the traffic on the highway was not as intense as during the day. The circumstance due to the low intensity of the traffic was also confirmed by witnesses who passed the motorcycle just before the traffic accident, who indicated that there were no more vehicles without a motorcycle and a car driven by T. Jančiūnas on the road ”, it reads in the judgment. .

T. Jančiūnas admitted guilt that the drunk man caused a traffic accident in which a person was killed. Previously he had distinguished himself as a road hooligan, in 2016 he was caught drunk behind the wheel. In addition, in 2019, he obtained a criminal conviction for breach of public order, which forced him to carry out public works for 4 months.

The prosecutor who supported the accusation asked to admit that T. Jančiūnas had eluded his responsibility because he denied driving the officers there. However, according to the court, he admitted his guilt and regretted it.

“For his actions, he not only expresses his regret, but sincere remorse is evidenced for his behavior in court, his actions in trying to apologize to the victims (by writing a letter of apology), showing his efforts to compensate the victims , unequivocally aware of his actions, extenuating circumstances, “said the judge.

The court also noted that the defendant is suffering greatly from the crime: he suffers from nightmares, the child’s sleep and loss of appetite.

“He told the doctors that he was closed, that he did not communicate, that he was afraid and avoided memories, and that he was reluctant to live,” the court said.

Taking into account all these circumstances, Judge T. Jančiūnas was sentenced to 6 years in prison. The law states that you will be sentenced to between 3 and 10 years in prison for a crime committed.

“When considering the suspension of the custodial sentence, the requirements of the principle of humanity must be reconciled with the principle of justice, according to which the penalty or acquittal of the author cannot deny the essence and purpose of criminal law.” According to the court, in this particular case, without a real custodial sentence, the purposes of the sentence and the principle of justice will not be guaranteed, ”the court ruled, sending the sentence to the penitentiary.

This ruling has not yet entered into force and can be appealed to the Lithuanian Court of Appeal.