A 37-YEAR-OLD man has been remanded in custody after he was charged with the murder of a taxi driver whose body was found lying in a pool of blood at his flat in Cork city last week.
Lloyd Buckley was brought before a special sitting of Cork District Court on Saturday where he was charged with the murder of 62-year-old Michael Healy at Rocksprings Terrace, St Luke’s, on a date between September 18th and September 23rd. Det Sgt Michael Hogan gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution and told how when he arrested and charged Mr Buckley outside Mayfield Garda station, Mr Buckley made no reply to the charge.
Det Insp Mick Fitzpatrick said that gardaí were seeking a remand in custody until Thursday and Judge Olan Kelleher granted the application, remanding Mr Buckley in custody to appear again in court on September 30th.
Mr Buckley’s solicitor, Frank Buttimer, asked that Mr Buckley receive medical treatment deemed appropriate by the prison authorities while in custody, saying his client had certain medical difficulties which were known to the gardaí.
Mr Buttimer also applied for free legal aid for Mr Buckley saying his client was unemployed and was of poor means.
Judge Kelleher granted the application and awarded Mr Buckley free legal aid.
Dressed in a grey tracksuit and hooded top, Mr Buckley didn’t speak during the hearing which lasted less than five minutes at the Anglesea Street courthouse in Cork.
A self-employed taxi driver, Mr Healy was discovered with serious head injuries by his brother, Dermot, last Wednesday morning when he called to the flat after becoming concerned when he hadn’t heard from his brother for several days.
A native of Grenagh in north Cork, Mr Healy was a separated father of two adult children who had lived for a period at Lagan Grove in Mayfield.
However, for the past 10 years or so, had lived at the upstairs flat at Rocksprings Terrace.
The remains of Mr Healy, who is survived by his brother, Dermot, and other family members, was removed from O’Connor’s funeral home in Coburg Street in Cork yesterday evening to St Lachteen’s Church in Grenagh. He will be buried after requiem Mass at 2pm today.