Jozef Puska, the 31-year-old man accused of murdering 23-year-old Ashling Murphy in Co Offaly, has been remanded again in custody for another two weeks.
Puska, who has been granted legal aid, appeared via videolink before Judge Victor Blake at Dublin’s Cloverhill District Court on Wednesday for his second hearing.
Court Garda sergeant Olwyn Murphy informed Judge Blake during the hearing that the formal directions from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) were not yet ready and asked for a four-week adjournment to prepare the file.
However, defence solicitor Roy O'Neill said “there is consent to two weeks only at this stage.”
Judge Blake told Puska that he would be remanded into continuing custody for another two weeks and ordered him to again appear in court on February 9 "for formal DPP directions.”
Due to the nature of the charge, the district court cannot consider a bail application that could only be heard by the High Court, BreakingNews.ie reports.
January 19, 2022: Jozef Puska is brought before a special sitting of Tullamore District Court. (RollingNews.ie)
On January 12, Ashling Murphy was fatally attacked at about 4 pm while jogging along the canal in Tullamore, Co Offaly. The death of Murphy, a primary school teacher and talented traditional musician, has been mourned not only in Ireland but by the global Irish community.
On January 14, gardai confirmed that a man they had arrested was released without charge and was no longer a suspect.
Later, on January 18, gardai confirmed that another man, a male in his 30s, had been arrested on suspicion of the murder of Murphy. A second man was arrested on January 19 and was questioned in relation to the potential withholding of information.
Later in the day on January 19, the day of Murphy's funeral, gardai announced that they had charged the man arrested on January 18 with murder, while the second man arrested on potential withholding of information was released without charge.
The day he was charged, Puska, who has an address in Tullamore, appeared before a special sitting of the Tullamore District Court where Detective Sergeant David Scahill gave evidence of arrest, charge, and caution.
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