Two held over Bandon murder

BARRY ROCHE, Southern Correspondent

Gardaí investigating the murder of a man whose body was found dumped in the River Bandon have arrested a couple this morning.

Officers investigating the murder of John Forrister arrested a 35-year-old woman in east Cork and a 37-year-old man in Cork city about 9am.

Mr Forrister’s body was found with stab wounds to the neck and head in the River Bandon on the morning of November 15th last. His hands and feet had also been bound with rope when his body was recovered by searchers 1km downstream of the town.

A postmortem examination confirmed he died a violent death and gardaí under Supt Eddie Mac Eoin launched a murder investigation.

A native of Blackpool, England, Mr Forrister had been living in Bandon for a number of years but had not been seen since November 13th.

Gardaí became concerned for his welfare after they noticed he was missing from his flat at a house at Bandon Bridge in the town.

The couple arrested today were detained under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act which allows gardaí hold suspects for up to 24 hours.

They were brought to Bandon Garda station for questioning about Mr Forrister’s murder which deeply shocked the local community.

The man and woman – who both previously lived in Bandon – are the first people to be arrested by gardaí investigating Mr Forrister’s death.