Deivydas Zigelis sentenced to seven years with final two suspended for manslaughter

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Deivydas Zigelis received a seven-year sentence for manslaughter, with the final two years suspended, leaving five years in custody. Mr Justice Paul Butler imposed the sentence at the Central Criminal Court. The proceedings were reported on 14 November 2016.

A jury found him not guilty of murder but guilty of the manslaughter of Alexander Karpovs in June 2016. Mr Karpovs, 26, died from a single stab wound to the heart at his home on Spa Street in Portarlington on 15 February 2014.

The report said the housemates had rowed about food during a drinking binge. Garda Ann Deegan agreed with prosecuting counsel, Shane Costelloe SC, that the men and another man had been drinking heavily before the row ended with Zigelis stabbing Mr Karpovs in the heart with a steak knife.

At a previous hearing, the court heard that Zigelis told gardaí shortly after his arrest: “I killed my friend. I am a bad man.” He also admitted to officers that he had been the “wielder of the knife”.

The judge acknowledged that the manslaughter conviction was correct because the killing was “clearly not a premeditated killing”. He said Zigelis had shown genuine remorse and had vowed never to touch alcohol again.

Defence counsel Conor Devally SC said his client regretted his actions, was remorseful and acknowledged that this was a dreadful event in which an unfulfilled life was lost.