Sandra Sandaraite fatally stabbed her on-off partner, Zbigniew Czech, with a chef’s knife in Navan in December 2022. The Lithuanian national pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the expressly accepted basis that she had used excessive force in self-defence. The sentencing judge found that a documented history of domestic abuse informed her state of mind, but that introducing a lethal weapon went beyond lawful self-protection.
The fatal night in Navan
Sandaraite and Czech had been in an on-and-off relationship for about three years. On 10 December 2022, both had been drinking vodka at Sandaraite’s Academy Street apartment in Navan. She later told Gardaí that Czech became aggressive, grabbed her arms and pushed her.
Sandaraite armed herself with a chef’s knife. She said she intended to frighten Czech and believed that she would otherwise be “battered”. She stabbed him once in the upper-left chest, causing a major pulmonary injury. Czech ran from the apartment and was found on the stairwell, where he was pronounced dead.
Sandaraite called emergency services but initially claimed that she had merely discovered the body. She also denied knowing Czech despite their long relationship. The sentencing judge later noted that the knife was found in Czech’s hand and that Sandaraite had provided no coherent explanation for how it came to be there.
A manslaughter plea based on excessive self-defence
Sandaraite was initially charged with murder. On 4 March 2024, the Director of Public Prosecutions accepted her guilty plea to manslaughter. The legal and factual basis was not an unqualified unlawful killing: it was that she had acted in self-defence but used excessive force.
That distinction is essential. The final conviction is manslaughter, not murder. The prosecution accepted that self-defence formed part of the case, while Sandaraite accepted criminal responsibility for exceeding the force the law permitted.
The domestic-abuse findings
The Central Criminal Court heard that the relationship was marked by excessive alcohol consumption and violence. Gardaí had received 24 complaints of violent behaviour from both directions. Sandaraite had obtained protection and safety orders against Czech, had presented at hospital with broken bones and had been punched several times.
Ms Justice Caroline Biggs described the relationship as toxic, volatile and violent. She found that the domestic abuse Sandaraite had suffered “must have informed her mind” when she took up the knife. The judge also found, however, that Sandaraite introduced a lethal weapon in the interests of self-preservation and used force beyond what was lawful.
The court’s findings do not erase Czech’s death, and his death does not erase the abuse evidence. An accurate case file has to preserve both parts of the adjudicated record.
Sentence and mitigation
On 29 July 2024, Ms Justice Biggs selected a nine-year pre-mitigation headline sentence. She reduced it by three years to reflect Sandaraite’s early guilty plea and personal circumstances, then suspended the final six months for two years to support rehabilitation. The result was 5½ years, with the final six months suspended, backdated to December 2022 when Sandaraite entered custody.
The court considered Sandaraite’s lack of previous convictions, remorse, 13-year work record as a chef, low assessed risk of reoffending and strong engagement with prison programmes. She had completed domestic-violence support, personal-development and first-aid courses and had tested negative for substances.
The unsuspended custodial portion was therefore five years. The record reviewed for this file did not identify a later appeal or variation of the conviction or sentence.
Chronology
- Before December 2022: The on-off relationship produces 24 Garda complaints in both directions; Sandaraite obtains protection and safety orders and has documented hospital treatment for injuries.
- 10 December 2022: Sandaraite stabs Czech once in the chest at her Navan apartment; he dies on the stairwell.
- 12 December 2022: She appears in Navan District Court charged with murder and is remanded in custody.
- 4 March 2024: The DPP accepts a guilty plea to manslaughter on the basis of excessive force in self-defence.
- 23 July 2024: The Central Criminal Court hears the evidence, domestic-abuse history and mitigation.
- 29 July 2024: The court imposes 5½ years, suspending the final six months and backdating the term to December 2022.
The taxpayer-cost boundary
The Irish Prison Service reported a 2024 average cost of €99,072 per available, staffed prison space, excluding capital expenditure. Applying that system-wide annual figure to the five-year unsuspended term produces a €495,360 conditional nominal gross benchmark.
This is not Sandaraite’s personal bill, an audited marginal cost or a statement of the amount actually spent. It holds one national average flat for five years and does not adjust for the sentence being backdated, remission, release arrangements or changing annual costs. Nor does it assign invented figures to the Garda investigation, prosecution, court administration, criminal legal aid, interpretation, probation, domestic-abuse services or support for Czech’s family.
Nationality and immigration-status limits
Irish court reporting identifies Sandaraite as a Lithuanian national. The sentencing evidence records a long work history as a chef and says that she had lived in Navan for the vast majority of her time in Ireland. Lithuania is a member of the European Union.
The reviewed sources do not establish her date of entry, the legal basis of her residence, any asylum history, any restriction under EU free-movement law, or any removal or deportation process. The court reports do not state that an immigration consequence was ordered or contemplated. None is inferred here.
Questions for public accountability
- How did 24 reports of violent behaviour in one relationship inform the State’s risk assessment and domestic-abuse response before the killing?
- Were the protection and safety orders monitored, and what interventions followed reported breaches or renewed contact?
- What was the actual custodial period after backdating and any remission?
- What public resources were used across Garda responses, emergency care, prosecution, imprisonment, probation and domestic-abuse services?
- How can agencies preserve both victim safety and an accurate history when violence is reported in both directions within a high-risk relationship?
Sources
- The Irish Times, 29 July 2024 — final sentence, excessive-self-defence basis, judicial findings and mitigation.
- RTÉ, 23 July 2024 — sentencing evidence, cause of death, Garda complaints and domestic-abuse history.
- The Irish Times, 4 March 2024 — DPP acceptance of the manslaughter plea.
- Crime World, 29 July 2024 — independent report of the final sentence and self-defence claim.
- RTÉ, 12 December 2022 — initial charge, remand and identification of the deceased.
- Meath Chronicle, 12 December 2022 — local court report of the initial proceedings and Lithuanian nationality.
- Irish Prison Service Annual Report 2024 — annual staffed-space benchmark and exclusions.