A killer who punched his colleague several times in the head in a drunken brawl has been jailed for 12 years.
Airidas Janavicius, 38, attacked 44-year-old “devoted father” Marius Lakavicius and then lied to detectives about how they had fought off a group of thugs together.
Emergency services were called after Mr Lakavicius was found with injuries on Goresbrook Road, Dagenham, at about midnight on Friday, July 23.
He was pronounced dead at the scene with a post-mortem examination giving his cause of death as head injuries.
Janavicius concocted a story about the pair being attacked by a group of six to eight men. He told officers the two friends had fended off the group, only for Mr Lakavicius to fall ill later on that evening.
But after scouring hours of CCTV and forensic examinations, Janavicius was linked to the crime by police. He was arrested later that evening for murder and perverting the course of justice.
He pleaded guilty to manslaughter and perverting the course of justice at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Tuesday, 26 April, and was sentenced at the same court on Monday to 12 years’ imprisonment.
DS Brett Hagen, leading the investigation, said: “This sequence of events resulted in the tragic and needless death of Marius Lakavicius. A thorough and detailed investigation implicated Janavicius in this crime, despite his initial lies to police that both he and Marius were attacked by a group of youths.
“This drunken attack on his ‘friend’ and work colleague has left a wife without her husband and two young boys without their devoted father. No sentence of imprisonment can bring Marius back and I would like to thank his family for their dignity throughout this harrowing period of their lives.”
