Deividas Skebas, 23, ruled unfit to stand trial for murder of Lilia Valutyte, 9, who was stabbed to death in the street
A MAN accused of stabbing a nine-year-old girl to death in the street has been deemed unfit to stand trial.
Lilia Valutyte, nine, was killed as she played with a hula hoop next to her five-year-old sister in Boston, Lincolnshire.
Fruit picker Deividas Skebas, 23, was due to stand trial charged with her murder but this was delayed for medical tests.
A judge today ruled Skebas is not fit to stand trial and enter a plea for murder.
Instead, Skebas will face a trial of facts in front of a jury to decide if he stabbed the schoolgirl to death.
Jurors will then decide whether or not he committed the offence rather than formally finding him guilty or not guilty.
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If found to have stabbed Lilia, Skebas would likely face a hospital order rather than a jail sentence.
The two-day trial of facts will be held before a High Court judge on July 10.
Lilia was knifed in the chest on July 28 last year as her mum worked in a cafe nearby.
Haunting CCTV showed the schoolgirl holding a hula hoop as she played with her sister just moments before the brutal attack.
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What is a trial of facts?
A trial of facts takes place when a court determines that a person is unfit to stand trial under usual criminal proceedings.
It cannot result in a conviction but a jury will instead determine whether an accused committed the alleged acts.
Prosecutors will put their evidence against the defendant before a judge and jury, in a courtroom, in a similar way to a normal criminal trial.
But the accused will not play a role in proceedings and do not even have to attend court.
Unlike a criminal trial, the jury do not find the defendant guilty or not guilty and are instead asked to decide if the defendant committed the offence with which they are charged.
They will also focus solely on what the accused has allegedly done, rather than if they had the mental capacity at the time to be found guilty.
The defendant can still be acquitted as per a normal trial if the panel is not satisfied they carried out the crime.
Sentencing options include treatment orders, hospital orders and supervision or guardianship orders.
In some cases, a judge will grant an absolute discharge - meaning the defendant is free to go.
Police could then be seen rushing over to Lilia in a desperate bid to save her.
Lilia's mum Lina paid tribute to her daughter online, alongside a string of touching photos.
She said: "You find yourself looking for her everywhere. We had four corners and now one is gone.”
Lina also spoke of her agony at Lilia's life being cruelly cut short before she could experience any of her hopes or dreams.
She said: "It’s hard to know what to say. She was just a normal child, one day she’s happy and another she isn’t, one day she wants to eat pancakes and another she doesn’t - the usual things.
"She loved to dance, travel and try new things, and annoy her sister. She wanted to go to Italy, so we will probably go anyway next year.”
Lilia's stepdad Aurelijus added: “She was cheeky; quiet in one way and then other ways she wasn't. She always tried to make fun.”
