Lilia Valutyte: Deividas Skebas unfit to plead to murder, court told

Lilia Valutyte was stabbed as she played in the street in Boston in July 2022

A man accused of murdering a nine-year-old girl in Lincolnshire has been found unfit to stand trial for her killing.

Lilia Valutyte died after being stabbed as she played with her younger sister in Fountain Street, Boston, on 28 July 2022, Lincoln Crown Court heard.

At Monday's hearing, Judge Simon Hirst said defendant Deividas Skebas was not fit to enter a plea or stand trial.

Mr Skebas, 23, will now face a trial of the facts to decide if he carried out the act of stabbing Lilia to death.

A two-day hearing before a jury has been scheduled for 10 July.

A trial of the facts is where the prosecution sets out the case in front of a jury but the defendant does not have to play a part in proceedings or be present in court.

The jury then decides if the defendant committed the alleged offence, though their conclusion cannot result in a criminal conviction.

An inquest in Lincoln heard that Harry Potter fan Lilia died from a stab wound to the chest.

Fruit picker Mr Skebas, of Thorold Street, Boston, was arrested two days later at his home.