Rihards Lavickis on trial for Longford murder

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

Rihards Lavickis was on trial at the Central Criminal Court charged with the murder of Akadiusz ‘Arik’ Czajkowski at Rue Noyal Chatillon, Townspark, Longford, on 1 November 2016.

Lavickis pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter. The proceedings were reported on 14 March 2019.

On 14 March, Det Sgt Eric Godfrey took the jury through CCTV footage which showed Lavickis chasing Czajkowski. The detective agreed that Lavickis appeared to have an implement believed to be a knife in his hand. The footage did not capture the stabbing.

Retired State pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy told the court that Czajkowski died from a single stab wound to his chest which penetrated his heart. She said death was principally due to blood loss.

The trial continued before Mr Justice Michael White and a jury.