Killer jailed for life after beating man unconscious and throwing him in river to drown

Murder victim: Vaidas Sakalauskas was attacked and thrown into a river
Metropolitan Police
Hannah Al-Othman20 May 2016
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A Lithuanian man has been jailed for life after he beat another man unconscious and threw him into a river to drown.

A murder investigation was launched after a member of the public found a body in a sleeping bag washed up on the banks of the River Lea in Canning Town, Newham.

The body, which was found at 7.20am on November 25 last year, was identifed as 22-year-old Vaidas Sakalauskas.

A post-mortem examination found he had died as a result of blunt trauma force to the head and drowning.

Saulius Urbanavicius, 24, a Lithuanian national, was arrested in Beckton on November 28 and was charged with murder two days later.

Police said after Urbanavicius had killed his victim he then stole his property and sold it.

Today he was jailed for life at the Old Bailey and told he would have to serve a minimum of 18 years, after being found guilty of murder at the same court.

The court heard that both men were rough sleepers and knew each other.

Murderer: Saulius Urbanavicius has been jailed for life over the killing
Metropolitan Police

They had both been sleeping in an underpass on the A13 for a period of several weeks.

However, officers are still not clear what the motive of the murder was.

Detective Inspector Euan McKeeve, the investigating officer from the Homicide and Major Crime Command (HMCC), said: “We are pleased with the jury's decision and today's sentencing of Salius Urbanavic.

"Vaidas Sakalauskas found himself sleeping rough under the Canning Town flyover. Despite his predicament, he invited his friend Urbanavicius to join him in an area where he felt safe as a rough sleeper.

"Unfortunately, whilst he was asleep and defenceless in his sleeping bag, Urbanavicius launched a violent and unprovoked attack on Vaidas before dumping his unconscious body in the Bow Creek river. Urbanavicius took Vaidas's property and sold it.

"I hope the Sakalauskas family can take some satisfaction from the sentencing and they should also know that everyone we spoke to in the wider homeless and Lithuanian community during the investigation talked highly of their loved one."

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