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On Thursday, the Panevėžys Regional Court found O. J., a resident of Rokiškis district, guilty of murder, damage to property, and public order disturbance. The accused directly broadcast his actions – beating and kicking a man who later died in hospital from his injuries – using the TikTok application.

For all the crimes, the court sentenced O. J. to a final aggregate sentence of twelve years' imprisonment. He will also have to compensate the deceased man's son over 26,000 euros for pecuniary and non-pecuniary damage, and the National Health Insurance Fund 3,719.89 euros for the personal healthcare services provided to the victim.

No mitigating circumstances for the six-time previously convicted defendant were established in the case.

"Although O. J. did not deny committing all the acts he was charged with, he himself filmed and directly broadcast them on the TikTok platform, so there was no point in him denying them. There is also no reason to consider his remorse for the crimes to be sincere, as this is his usual behavior <...>. Furthermore, he never once went to the victims, apologized to them, or compensated even a small part of the damage they suffered," noted Judge Valdas Meidus, who examined the case.

Aggravating circumstances for O. J.'s liability were recognized as the fact that he committed the criminal acts while intoxicated by alcohol, and this influenced his criminal behavior. In addition, his liability is aggravated by the fact that he committed the criminal acts as a recidivist, i.e., with an unexpired criminal record for previous intentional crimes.

O. J. was also convicted for smashing car windows in a private house yard, kicking and breaking his neighbors' apartment door, and a few days later, for vandalizing an apartment building's staircase and damaging a neighbor's car.

The verdict of the Panevėžys Regional Court can be appealed to the Court of Appeal of Lithuania within 20 days.

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