Judge warns gardaí over Satchwell murder case
Risk of it being struck out if book of evidence is not presented soon
A JUDGE has warned gardaí that the case against Richard Satchwell, charged with the murder of his wife Tina, could be struck out if the book of evidence is not ready in two weeks.
Judge Brian O’Shea told gardaí in Clonmel District Court yesterday that the case against the 57-year-old Englishman risks being struck out on March 26.
‘You are facing an uphill struggle not to have it struck out on that date if you don’t have the book of evidence. I am expecting the book to be here,’ Judge O’Shea said.
Mr Satchwell, who is a native of Leicester, appeared in court by video-link yesterday having previously been charged with the murder of his wife.
The former truck driver was charged in October of last year with the murder, contrary to common law, of Tina Satchwell on March 20, 2017, at a location in Cork. Mr Satchwell was charged after gardaí found the skeletal remains of Mrs Satchwell while excavating a concrete floor and walled-up area underneath the stairwell of her home in Grattan Street, Youghal, Co. Cork.
She was reported missing in March 2017.
Yesterday, Sergeant Tom O’Brien said he could not guarantee that the book of evidence would be ready in a fortnight.
Sgt O’Brien made an application that Mr Satchwell be remanded in custody for a period of four weeks.
Judge O’Shea noted that the defendant was first charged over five months ago. The judge said it was indicated at a hearing of the case last month that the book of evidence would be ready to be served on Mr Satchwell by the end of March.
A date of March 26 was fixed for the next hearing. Sgt O’Brien said that investigating officer Detective Garda David Kelleher would be present in court on March 26 next to apply for an extension if required.
Judge O’Shea again warned that the case could be struck out if the book of evidence is not ready at the next court hearing.
Mr Satchwell appeared by video-link at the short hearing.
He was clean-shaven and wearing a white top and a pair of pants. He was remanded in custody until his next court date. Last month, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) directed that Mr Satchwell be tried on a single charge of murder at the Central Criminal Court.
He was previously denied bail at a High Court sitting at Cloverhill Court. Gardaí objected to bail saying that the accused was a flight risk.
Refusing the application, Judge Siobhán Lankford said that Mr Satchwell faces ‘very serious charges, the most serious charges on the criminal canon’.
Mr Satchwell first appeared in court in connection with the alleged offence on October 14, 2023. On that occasion, evidence of arrest charge and caution was given by Detective Garda Kelleher. The detective said that Mr Satchwell had been formally charged, with the murder of his wife, in Cobh Garda Station the previous day. Legal aid was granted in the case.
Mrs Satchwell was a native of St Bernard’s Place in Fermoy, Co. Cork, who was living in Youghal at the time of her death.
She was reported missing on March 24, 2017 by her husband.
After she was reported missing, gardaí followed 400 lines of inquiry, watched hundreds of hours of CCTV and took witness statements from 170 people.
A major sea and land search was carried out by gardaí following her disappearance.
In March 2018, gardaí led a major search for Mrs Satchwell in Mitchell’s Wood in Castlemartyr, Co. Cork. In March of last year, on the sixth anniversary of her disappearance, gardaí issued a renewed appeal for information in a bid to locate her.
Mrs Satchwell would have turned 50 in 2022.
She hailed from a family of eight and is survived by her siblings.
Vigils in her memory have been held in Youghal and Fermoy.
A private family funeral has also taken place.
Remains found under stairwell ‘The most serious charges’