Dainotas Doblys

Dainotas Doblys, a 48-year-old man living in Boston, Lincolnshire, met 49-year-old Virginja Jurkiene from Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, through a 'lonely hearts' advertisement in a Lithuanian magazine. The pair arranged to meet on 18 January 2013 in Wisbech, where they booked a room at the Hare and Hounds Hotel in North Brink.

According to court proceedings at Cambridge Crown Court, Doblys and Jurkiene left the hotel to purchase alcohol and food from a local shop before returning. The following day, at approximately 11:45 GMT on 19 January 2013, Doblys informed hotel staff that Jurkiene was dead in the room. Her naked body was discovered in a pool of blood, and a post-mortem examination determined that she had died from suffocation in conjunction with severe alcohol intoxication.

Doblys denied the charges, claiming that the pair had engaged in consensual sex. However, in June 2013, he was convicted of manslaughter and two counts of rape, though cleared of murder. Cambridgeshire Police described the incident as a 'horrific sexual assault' following the trial.

The sentencing took place at Cambridge Crown Court, where Doblys was jailed for 16 years, with an additional four years on licence to follow his release. In a statement released through the police, Jurkiene's family expressed their devastation: 'This tragedy has shaken our lives enormously. We experience sleepless nights, nightmares and the most horrible thoughts of the suffering mum went through. We just want to know why he was so cruel to our mum. These words are a goodbye to her, the dearest, the most loved mum.'

The case was prosecuted by Cambridgeshire Police, highlighting the brutal nature of the crimes committed in the context of what was intended to be a personal connection via a classified advertisement.