Jury sworn in Aivars Sondors case over alleged assistance to an offender

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

A jury had been sworn at the Central Criminal Court in the case against Aivars Sondors, who faced charges of assisting an offender. Aivars Sondors pleaded not guilty to all the charges. The proceedings were reported on 21 April 2015.

The allegations concerned assistance to M.Gaizutis on the day of the alleged killing, intended to hinder his arrest and prosecution. The case concerned the death of Audrius Butkus. His body was discovered at Mornington beach in Co Meath on 10 September 2013.

The charges concerned taking the body from a Marsh Road house to Mornington beach and placing it in the sea; cleaning the scene at Marsh Road; and destroying items from another location connected with the case, Burke House on Mathew’s Lane in Drogheda. Those items included a carpet and clothing, along with a nail brush, a rubbish bag, bottles and tins.

The report said M.Gaizutis denied murder but said he was guilty of manslaughter. That position was not accepted.

The jury was due to start considering evidence against both men the following day.