Peterborough man who punched and killed cyclist given suspended sentence after admitting manslaughter

Nicolae Budurus, 40, of Lincoln Road, Peterborough, was spotted outside his house by a member of the public just before 9pm on 5 January.

The member of the public saw a bike was blocking the pavement and asked Budurus, who was leaning against his garden wall, what was going on.

Budurus gestured towards the bike where the passerby then spotted another man lying on the ground unconscious.

The passerby called an ambulance and carried out first aid on the unconscious man.

On arrival at the scene paramedics discovered the man had suffered a significant head injury and the wing mirror on the car closest to him, a silver Mercedes, was hanging off.

When officers arrived in Lincoln Road, Budurus was seen to take a “keen interest” in what was going on but at no point disclosed what had happened or that the damaged vehicle was his.

The victim, 30-year-old Audrius Lapinskas, from Watergall, Bretton, was taken to hospital but pronounced dead less than an hour later, at approximately 9.30pm.

MORE: Family of Peterborough cyclist killed after he was punched hope to get closure after sentencing

A post mortem examination carried out two days later at Addenbrooke’s Hospital concluded Mr Lapinskas died as a result of being assaulted.

CCTV showed Mr Lapinskas cycling along the pavement in Lincoln Road in a “weaving motion” before stopping by the row of parked cars at 8.38pm.

Less than a minute later, the footage captured Budurus running out of his house towards the victim where he threw a left-handed punch and then attempted to kick Mr Lapinskas.

A line of trees blocked the view of what took place following this, but movement could be seen on the camera.

At 8.39pm, Budurus was seen on camera coming out from the line of trees before pulling Mr Lapinskas’s bike onto the pavement and going back into his house.

Due to this CCTV footage and Budurus’s behaviour at the scene, he was arrested on suspicion of murder just before 11pm and later charged with the offence.

In police interview Budurus admitted being in bed at home before hearing a noise. He claimed due to his car being broken into a year previously, he went outside to investigate where he saw a hooded man trying to pull the wing mirror off his car which was parked two or three metres away.

Budurus admitted punching Mr Lapinskas “two or three times” in the face before pulling him off his bike and onto the ground.

He broke down in tears during the interview and told officers it was never his intention to kill or seriously harm anyone. He claimed in hindsight that his actions weren’t reasonable and said he wished he had never left his house.

Budurus admitted a charge of manslaughter at Cambridge Crown Court on 16 March. His sentencing took place at the same court today (23 April).

Sentencing, Judge David Farrell QC said Budurus was of previous good character and had given a truthful account of events in his police interview.

He said Budurus accepted he had used “unreasonable force” but said it was clear he didn’t talk to police at the scene or call the emergency services due to a “language barrier”.

Judge Farrell added that this was an “unusual case” because he accepted that Budurus had no intention to cause Mr Lapinskas serious injury, let alone death.

He said Budurus showed clear remorse and had tried his best to help throughout the incident, also highlighting his “exemplary” good character and role as a “hard working family man”.

Judge Farrell concluded that the situation in this case was caused by the victim, who was drunk and damaging Budurus’s car.

Adding that Budurus had already spent eight months in custody, Judge Farrell sentenced Budurus to 16 months in prison, suspended for 18 months. He was also handed a 20-day rehabilitation activity requirement.