Exclusive: Man who killed vet in car crash, then fled country, had been accused of murder in Lithuania

Records from 2001 suggest Vytautas Kiminius was held by police for ten days and faced trial for murder

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A Lithuanian man who fled the UK after killing a vet in a car crash had previously been accused of murder in his homeland, the Telegraph can reveal.

Vytautas Kiminius was a teenager when he appeared in court charged with beating a homeless man to death in the small town of Taurage, close to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.

Records from 2001 suggest he was held by police for ten days and faced trial, but it is understood that he was acquitted after the group of homeless people were too intoxicated to identify who attacked their friend.

Kiminius was also accused of criminal behaviour in the UK, alongside his wife Karolina Kiminiene.

In 2017, firefighters found 74 cannabis plants growing in the basement of a Lithuanian food shop owned by Ms Kiminiene, but she claimed to know nothing of the “industrial scale” operation and said it must have been the work of criminal gangs operating after hours.

Lincolnshire police said on Friday night: “ Ultimately there were no charges in relation to the investigation.”

Sgt Kim Enderby, of Lincolnshire Police’s alcohol licensing team, said it was “inconceivable” that Mrs Kiminiene and her husband, who ran an adjoining beauty salon, did not know about the grow.

While the venue lost its licence to sell alcohol, the result of the police investigation is not clear.

Vytautas Kiminius pleaded guilty to causing death by dangerous driving

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In November 2018, Kiminius, now 35, was at the wheel of a Range Rover Sport when he took a "racing line" through a corner and ploughed into the Ford Fiesta being driven by 46-year-old Rachel Radwell.

She died of her injuries following the crash on the B1095 near Peterborough.

Kiminius admitted on the first day of his trial in February to driving while uninsured and was found guilty of causing Miss Radwell’s death by dangerous driving.

But despite being bailed to reappear for sentencing with conditions including a surety, surrender of travel documents and electronic tagging, he fled the country with his wife and two young children, leaving the victim’s father “stumped” as to how it could happen.

On Friday, the Acting Police and Crime Commissioner for Cambridgeshire, Ray Bisby, said: “The Chief Constable has briefed me on the circumstances of this incident. I do appreciate how difficult this must be for Rachel Radwell’s family.

“The current priority is to locate the man in question and I have been reassured that all agencies are working together to do this.”