A MAN HAS been extradited from the Netherlands and has appeared in court in Dublin on charges of murdering a four-month-old baby in Co Wexford four years ago.
Phillip Doyle (31), Tinakilly, Aughrim, Co Wicklow, appeared before Dublin District Court on Wednesday. He was charged with the murder of baby Ross Murphy at Creagh Demense, Gorey, Co Wexford, in April 2005.
Mr Doyle was remanded in custody to Cloverhill Prison, Dublin, by Judge Patrick MacMahon. He will appear before Cloverhill District Court on June 9th.
Mr Doyle was extradited from the Netherlands to Ireland on Wednesday under the European Extradition Warrant system. He had spent a short period in custody there and did not contest his extradition. He had been living in the Netherlands having left Ireland after the baby’s death. He is the former partner of the murdered baby’s mother.
Ross died at Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin, Dublin, early on April 5th, 2005, after being transferred there from Wexford General Hospital the day before. Gardaí launched an investigation after suspicious marks were found on his body.
A postmortem was carried out by State pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy on April 6th. Her initial findings proved inconclusive but further tests revealed “certain injuries”.
Ross was first admitted to Wexford General Hospital on March 31st. He had been vomiting and crying. He was released four days later, but brought back to the hospital later that same day after his condition worsened. Doctors made the decision to transfer him to Our Lady’s Hospital on April 4th. His condition worsened further and he died the next day.