Man charged with murder after Irish backpacker dies in hospital

A man appeared in court in Melbourne yesterday charged with the murder of Irish man David Greene.

A man appeared in court in Melbourne yesterday charged with the murder of Irish man David Greene.

Luke James Wentholt (31) appeared before Melbourne magistrates court via videolink.

He faced upgraded charges relating to an alleged attack on Mr Greene and another Irish man, David Byas, at a boarding house in the St Kilda East area of the city on August 26th.

Mr Wentholt had been charged with two counts of intentionally causing serious injury and recklessly causing serious injury before Mr Greene (30) died in the Alfred Hospital last Friday.

Mr Wentholt was arrested at the same hospital that Mr Greene and Mr Byas were taken to after seeking treatment for injuries at 4.30am on the day of the assault.

The court heard yesterday from prosecutor John Riordan that the charges against Mr Wentholt had been upgraded and he now faced one count of murder.

The book of evidence will be handed to the accused’s lawyers in November.

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Pádraig Collins

Pádraig Collins

Pádraig Collins a contributor to The Irish Times based in Sydney