Dad cleared of drowning wife claims he's blocked from seeing their five children
A father who was cleared of the murder of his wife after she drowned in a lake has accused authorities of preventing him from having contact with his five children.
Andrius Vengalis, 46, had not seen any of his kids since the death of Egle Vengaliene, 35, on April 9, 2021, Suffolk Corner's Court has heard.
The inquest was told how they were initially placed in foster care in the UK after their mother was found dead in a lake in Brandon Country Park, Suffolk.
Mr Vengalis was arrested within hours of her death and charged with her murder before his children left the UK to live with his wife's relatives in Lithuania.
He spent nine months in custody before a not guilty plea was recorded by a judge at Ipswich Crown Court after prosecutors offered no evidence against him in January last year.
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Ms Vengaliene was found dead in a pond at Brandon Country Park (East Anglia News Service)But he told the inquest into his wife's death that he had since been prevented from having contact with any of his children who are all aged under 15.
Mr Vengalis said he had tried in vain to get access to them through social services in the UK after he was freed from prison and returned to live in Brandon.
He said: "They told me to talk to the Lithuanain embassy, but they said they had nothing to do with it.
"Because the children had already been six months in Lithuania, they are covered by Lithuanian laws and I am not entitled to see them.
"Why did the UK help the children to be removed from the country, but won't help me to get them back? They don't even want to communicate with me."
The inquest earlier heard how three of the children had given statements to police, suggesting that he had been physically abusive to his wife of 19 years.
Police at the scene in Suffolk (East Anglia News Service)Mr Vengalis claimed that his children had been turned against him by his wife's mother after police told her he had been arrested.
He repeatedly described claims that he had been abusive as "complete nonsense", saying: "I never did this. I never hurt her."
Dog walker Robert McDonald told the hearing how he was in the country park when he thought he saw a man pushing a woman down in the lake or throttling her at around 6.50am on April 9, 2021.
But as he got nearer, he realised he was mistaken and that the man was trying to resuscitate the woman while her legs were in the water and her upper body was on the bank.
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Mr McDonald said he helped Mr Vengalis drag his wife fully out of the water, and took over the resuscitation attempt. She was declared dead at the scene and a post mortem revealed she had drowned.
Mr Vengalis claimed his wife had become obsessed with the supernatural and "other dimensions" in the years before his death.
He feared for her mental health two or three days before her death after she told him that she had dreamed she had made "a contract with the devil".
She was was found dead in a pond at Brandon Country Park in Suffolk on April 9 2021 (East Anglia News Service)The food factory worker at first thought his wife had gone out jogging after he woke up early and found her missing from the house.
But he claimed he became worried when he found her sports shoes were still in the house, and he went out to look for her.
He spotted her face down in the water in the lake around 1km from their home, and tried to resuscitate her after being unable to drag her full out of the water by himself.
Mr Vengalis admitted that he had seen a neighbour while on his way out to look for his wife, but had not asked him if he had seen her.
He also admitted not telling his five children where he was going and leaving them alone in the house, and not taking the mobile phone which he shared with his wife.
Michael Hill, the counsel to the inquest, asked him at the inquest: "Looking back, would you agree that looks like strange behaviour?"
Vengalis was accused of killing his Lithuanian-born wife (East Anglia News Service) Speaking through a translator, Mr Vengalis replied: "Maybe it's strange behaviour, but I was simply looking for her.
"I'm not sure I was supposed to call the police as soon as I woke up or seek neighbours' help if I didn't even know where she was."
Asked about the possibility that she had taken her own life, he replied: "I am not a psychologist. I don't know what a person does if they go mad. I don't have any other explanation."
But he added: "The children were all her life. I can't imagine how even her children could not stop her."
The inquest earlier heard a Royal Mail delivery driver had spotted a woman, believed to be Ms Vengaliene, walking into woods at the country park just after 3am on the day she died.
Ms Vengaliene knocked on the window of Brandon Park care home next to the lake at 5.15am, appearing wet and shivering with no shoes on when she was seen by staff.
She asked for help, but they could not let her into the home due to Covid restrictions at the time. When they offered to call police to help her, she replied: "No, no police. Will be big trouble", and walked off.
The inquest heard last week how Ms Vengaliene's blood was found smeared on a washing machine and microwave in a near neighbour's conservatory after her death.
The near neighbour's fence and gate had also been broken, and her property including slippers and a necklace found at the scene.
The hearing continues.
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