Murder accused’s sister found ‘bloody’ victim after trampoline chase

A sister of a youth who is charged with murder told a court on Wednesday that she found a male friend in a bloodied state on the ground after her brother had chased him around a trampoline with a homemade knife.

The girl told the murder trial at the Central Criminal Court, sitting in Castlebar, Co Mayo, that she started screaming when she saw a stab wound on the upper body of Dovydas Jenkas (17).

She said neighbours ran to the scene after being alerted by her screams and they unsuccessfully tried to resuscitate the victim.

The youth charged with killing Dovydas, a Lithuanian national, in the early hours of December 19th, 2015, denies murder.

He cannot be named for legal reasons.

On the second day of the trial, before Judge Eileen Creedon and a jury, the sister of the accused said that on the date in question she had been watching videos with Dovydas in her mother's bedroom while her mother was visiting a friend.

The witness said she let her brother in to the room after he had shouted at her to unlock the door. In the meantime, Dovdyas had gone into the room’s en-suite bathroom.

She said her brother was angry and demanded to know who was in the bathroom. She did not tell him.

‘Angry mood’

The witness said that, after leaving the room, her brother returned with a knife, which she recognised as one he had made himself. She said he was in an angry mood.

The witness said her brother saw Dovydas leaving the room through a window and said: “Oh, it’s you.”

She added: “It [then] sounded like he [my brother] was running downstairs.

“I saw the two running around the trampoline in the garden. I told them to calm down. I did not want anyone to get injured.

“I went down to the garden. My brother was shocked and starting to cry. I think he had a knife in his hand. He said he was sorry.”

The witness said that, when she attended to Dovydas on the ground, he did not respond to her and was breathing heavily.

She tried to get him up but did not succeed. She took off his coat and T-shirt after seeing blood on them and then saw the stab wound on the left-hand side of his upper body.

“I then started screaming,” she said.

The trial is continuing.