Life for head-on-beach murderers

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Vitas Plytnykas, 41, was told he must spend at least 28 years in jail for the "monstrous" murder of Jolanta Bledaite in Angus, Scotland.

Aleksandras Skirda, 20, will have to serve 20 years before he is eligible for parole, the High Court in Edinburgh heard.

The pair bound, gagged and suffocated their 35-year-old victim at the flat she shared with Skirda in Brechin, Angus, on March 29 last year, after forcing her to give them access to her savings.

Skirda admitted murdering Miss Bledaite last October and gave evidence against his co-accused, who was found guilty following a trial last month.

The men thought Miss Bledaite had up to £10,000 in a bank account and believed that no-one would know she was missing.

At court Lord Pentland said: "Your intention all along was to murder Jolanta Bledaite and then to mutilate and dispose of her body in an attempt to cover your tracks. Jolanta Bledaite must have suffered a terrifying and lonely death."

Lord Pentland told Plytnykas - who was sentenced to seven and a half years for an earlier killing in Germany in 2001 - that his actions were "particularly evil".

Sentencing him to a minimum of 28 years, Lord Pentland said: "You have no respect for human life or decency. You may indeed never be released."

Turning to Skirda, Lord Pentland said: "You played a full part in the execution of these dreadful crimes, a willing participant. I'm not persuaded that you have expressed any genuine remorse."