A man and a woman were tonight remanded in custody after they were charged with the murder of a young father-of-one whose body was found in the river Bandon in west Cork.
Ciprian Grozavu (37) a Romanian national, and Katherine O’Connor (35) were both charged with the murder of Jonathan Duke (27) at Bandon Bridge House, Sean Hales Place, Bandon on November 13th.
The two were charged at a special sitting of Bandon district court with the murder of Mr Duke whose body was discovered just downstream of Bandon bridge early on Monday morning.
There were angry scenes outside court where a crowd of between 300 and 400 people gathered up to an hour before the special sitting, and shouted abuse as the two accused arrived with gardaí.
In court, Det Garda Mike Brosnan gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution in relation to Ms O’Connor and told the court that she replied "No" when the charge was put to her after caution.
Garda Kieran Murphy gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution in relation to Mr Grozavu and told the court that he replied "I didn’t do it" when the charge was put to him after caution.
Solicitor for Ms O'Connor, Eddie Burke, said his client had been on disability benefit for a number of years, and asked that she be provided with medication when in prison.
He also asked Judge James McNulty to request the authorities at Limerick Prison to have her psychiatrically assessed as she had been suffering from psychiatric issues for a number of years.
Mr Burke also applied for free legal aid for his client as did Mr Grozavu’s solicitor, Macaire Adams who said her client was in receipt of unemployment assistance and was a man of modest means.
Supt Eddie Mac Eoin applied to have both remanded in custody to appear again at Bandon district court again next Monday at 2pm and Judge McNulty remanded both in custody to that date.
Judge McNulty also noted the applications for free legal aid by solicitors for both accused, and he said he accepted both were suitable cases for such aid and granted it to both accused.
Dressed in a black dress, boots and leggings, Ms O’Connor, who has a tattoo of a cross on her cheek, spoke briefly to family members who were in court for the hearing.
Mr Grozavu, who was wearing a black jumper and jeans, did not speak during the seven-minute hearing which was also attended by the mother of the deceased, Michelle and two of his sisters.
Afterwards, the two accused ran a gauntlet of abuse as an emotive and hostile crowd hurled insults at them as they were escorted from the courthouse by a large party of gardaí to waiting unmarked cars.