Tomas Cypas had accumulated 55 previous convictions before beating his friend Juris Kokenbergs to death in a Lucan house. The Lithuanian national admitted repeatedly punching a man the prosecution described as too drunk to pose a threat. A Central Criminal Court jury rejected self-defence and lesser-offence arguments and convicted him of murder.
The killing
During a drinking session in October 2024, Kokenbergs made lewd remarks about Cypas’s mother. Cypas said his friend attacked first and that he acted in self-defence. He admitted hitting him up to eight times but denied stamping on his head. The prosecution said Cypas was under no threat and delivered a battering to a defenceless man.
Kokenbergs suffered fatal brain injuries. RTÉ reported that he was left on a couch under a blanket for more than a day and was dead when emergency services arrived. Blood matching Kokenbergs was found on Cypas’s runner; expert evidence supported contact between footwear and the victim’s scalp, although its significance could not be determined.
Verdict and sentence
After almost seven hours of deliberation over three days, the jury returned a 10-to-2 majority murder verdict on 9 March 2026. The court had left open murder, manslaughter and acquittal, including self-defence, provocation and intoxication routes. The jury selected murder. Judge Paul McDermott imposed the mandatory life sentence later that month.
The sentencing court recorded 55 previous convictions at what defence described as the nuisance end of offending. The full schedule is not published, so this file does not assign offences or dates that the court report does not supply.
Immigration facts and unanswered position
Cypas is a Lithuanian national and therefore an EU citizen. Public court reporting does not establish his entry date, residence basis, family ties, any earlier EU public-security assessment or a case-specific removal order. A life sentence has no fixed release date; any future immigration decision must preserve the sentence, victim-family rights and public protection.
Chronology
- Before October 2024: 55 convictions accumulated.
- 26–28 October 2024: Fatal attack and discovery of Kokenbergs’s body.
- 30 October 2024: Initial serious-harm charge and remand.
- Later: Charge upgraded to murder.
- 9 March 2026: Majority murder verdict.
- 20 March 2026: Mandatory life sentence reported.
Cost benchmark
A life sentence has no fixed endpoint and receives no ordinary remission. At the 2024 staffed-space average, the twelve years that must elapse before parole can be granted represent €1,188,864. Twenty years at the same constant rate would be €1,981,440.
Questions the State should answer
- What offences and sentences make up the 55-conviction record?
- How many prior cases involved violence or public-order risk?
- What escalating interventions followed persistent offending?
- Was any EU public-security assessment previously undertaken?
- How will Kokenbergs’s family participate in any future parole process?
- What is the complete justice-system cost across the record?