Ms Vigars went on to read an account of the facts of the offence, during which Sarah was strangled and wounded fatally with a knife. The court heard how Ms Ashwell had struggled with drug use for many years and was in a relationship with the defendant.
She said: "Sarah Ashwell was born on April 7, 1974, and lived in the South West for most of her life. She struggled with drug addiction from her late teens to early 20s and was supported extensively by her parents
"Her boys lived mostly elsewhere but she was deeply engaged in their lives. In February 2019, she moved into her parent's cottage on South Street. [...]
"During lockdown, the defendant was working on the house and Sarah told her mother that he was a friend. However, they were already in a relationship by that time."
Ms Vigars told the court how Sarah had described Jankauskas as "controlling" to her friends and said he had been violent towards her "on multiple occasions", sometimes grabbing her throat. [...]
The day before she died, Sarah was seen in Glastonbury by two police officers, who said she was intoxicated and very distressed. She said she "didn't feel safe" at home.
The officers drove her back to Wells and searched her home, but found no one there. Sarah spent the night at a friend's house and returned the following day (November 6). [...]
On November 8, officers went to the farm where Jankauskas worked and asked him where he was at the time of the murder. He said he had heard about it from a friend and hadn't seen Sarah since the middle of the previous week.
He said that they had broken up six weeks earlier due to her heroin use. He was then arrested and interviewed on November 9, when he denied any involvement and answered "no comment" to all other questions.
However, by November 12, new evidence had emerged. Sarah had accidentally called one of her friends on the evening she was murdered and it went to voicemail, while her phone lay forgotten on the bed.
Ms Vigars described how Ms Ashwell can be heard arguing with Jankauskas. "She said she loved him, but that he was behaving like a c*** and referred to being hit by him on multiple occasions," the barrister added.
The recording ended after seven minutes when the voicemail limit was reached. As well as being confronted with this, the defendant was informed his DNA had been found underneath Ms Ashwell's fingernails and his blood was on the door handle of her home. [...]
It was then the turn of defence barrister Adam Vaitilingam QC to speak in mitigation for his client. He opened by describing how Jankauskas came to the UK in 2006 and had worked on Burcot Farm, near Wells, since 2009.
He lived in a caravan on-site and still kept some clothes there, even after he had moved in with Sarah. Mr Vaitilingam referenced his four children in Lithuanian, who are aged between four and 21. [...]
The barrister produced texts from November 6, in which Ms Ashwell asked the defendant where he was and told him to call her.
"He said he went around to her address and got there at 10.15pm and that he thinks he went there to check on her and collect some clothes. However, he says he has no memory of the incident and that he woke up the next day with no idea what had happened.
"He said that if he had known, why wouldn’t he have left the country? He accepts now that he killed her but he cannot believe that he did something so savage. Therefore, there was no pre-meditation in this case," Mr Vaitilingam concluded. [...]
Judge Blair added that the fact Sarah was at home, under the influence of drugs, and that a knife had been used, were all aggravating factors. This brought the maximum prison term, before consideration for release, to 17.5 years.
As Jankauskas pleaded guilty before trial, he was eligible for a 15 per cent discount, bringing his minimum term to 14 years and 10 months. [...]
Avon and Somerset Police made a mandatory referral to the Independent Office of Police Conduct (IOPC) due to recent police contact with Sarah before her death. Now that criminal proceedings have concluded, the IOPC will carry out its independent investigation.
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