A 29-YEAR-OLD man has been remanded in custody after he was charged over the weekend with the murder of a man whose body was found in a burning flat in Youghal, Co Cork, last week.
William O’Leary was charged at a special sitting of Youghal District Court on Saturday night with the murder of 31-year-old Michael O’Shea who lived in a neighbouring flat on North Main Street.
Mr O’Leary, with an address at Flat No 11, 85 North Main Street, Youghal was charged with the murder of Mr O’Shea at Flat No 9, 85 North Main Street on or between January 12th and 13th.
Mr O’Shea’s body was recovered from his burning ground-floor flat by firefighters at about 2.30am on Thursday and despite efforts by paramedics to resuscitate him, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Gardaí arrested Mr O’Leary at a house in Cobh at about 9.30am on Friday morning and brought him to Midleton Garda station for questioning.
On Saturday night, at about 6.30pm, Mr O’Leary was brought to Youghal Town Hall, where Youghal District Court is held, and was charged with the murder of Mr O’Shea.
Sgt Paul Kennedy, of Youghal Garda station, gave evidence of arrest, charge and caution and told the court that the accused replied, “I’m sorry”, when the charge was put to him after caution.
Insp Eoin Healy said gardaí were seeking a remand in custody for a week and Judge Terence Finn remanded Mr O’Leary in custody to appear again at Youghal District Court on Friday.
Mr O’Leary’s solicitor, Shane Coleman-Daly, applied to the judge for free legal aid, informing the court that his client was unemployed and Judge Finn granted him free legal aid.
Mr Coleman-Daly also asked the judge to request the governor of Cork Prison to ensure that Mr O’Leary received all appropriate medical and psychiatric attention as “his mental state is quite frail”.
Dressed in a light grey tracksuit and a black beanie hat, the bearded Mr O’Leary spoke only to confirm his identity and date of birth for Judge Finn during the hearing which lasted just five minutes.
Earlier on Saturday, the late Mr O’Shea, a native of Dermot Hurley Park in Youghal, was buried at North Abbey Cemetery in Youghal following requiem Mass at the Holy Family Church in the town.
Mr O’Shea is survived by his parents Michael and Catherine and three sisters Rebecca, Sinéad and Sabrina.