Woman accused of murder in Meath has plea of manslaughter accepted by State

Paul Neilan

A 38-year-old Lithuanian woman who was charged with the murder of a 47-year-old Polish man in Co Meath two years ago has had a plea of guilty to manslaughter accepted by the State.

Sandra Sandaraite, with an address at Academy Street, Navan, Co Meath, had been charged with the murder of Zbigniew Czech at the same address on December 10th, 2022.

At the Central Criminal Court on Monday, Sandaraite pleaded guilty to manslaughter, which Bernard Condon SC said was acceptable to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Sandaraite spoke only to say “not guilty to murder, guilty to manslaughter” when the charge was read to her by the registrar.

Michael Bowman SC, for Sandaraite, said the charge arose in the context of a “domestic dispute”.

Mr Justice Paul McDermott adjourned the matter to a sentence hearing date of May 16th.