Man (25) charged with murder after friend found fatally injured by canal
A 25-YEAR-OLD man has been charged with the murder of another man who was found seriously injured beside a canal in Co Kildare.
Robert Broughan, from St Patrick’s Park in Rathangan, Co Kildare, appeared before Naas District Court yesterday.
He was charged with the murder of 34-year-old Roy Hopkins, who was discovered at Glenaree Bridge in Rathangan shortly after 9pm on Friday.
Detective Garda Seamus Doyle from Newbridge garda station told Judge Desmond Zaidan that Mr Broughan replied, “Are we going to Naas?”, when the murder charge was put to him.
Judge Zaidan asked what this was in reference to, and Det Gda Doyle said it was in relation to the court sitting.
Judge Zaidan then asked Det Gda Doyle about the circumstances of the case, and the detective said it was alleged that Mr Broughan had assaulted Mr Hopkins with “a blunt instrument” he then identified as a baseball bat.
Smiling
The court heard it would be alleged that both Mr Hopkins and Mr Broughan had gone to the canal together, and that they were friends, and not enemies.
Mr Broughan stood smiling during the hearing, and at one point corrected Det Gda Doyle on Mr Hopkins’ name. “His name’s Roy,” he said. Mr Broughan only spoke one other time during the hearing – answering “landscaper” when asked if he was employed.
Solicitor for Mr Broughan, Conal Boyce, applied for a psychological assessment of his client while in custody and asked that he receive any treatment required.
This was granted by Judge Zaidan.
Mr Broughan was remanded in custody to Cloverhill Prison to appear in court again by video link next Thursday.
Wearing a white T-shirt, dark grey tracksuit bottoms and grey trainers, Mr Broughan sat quietly in the court before his case was called, and stood for its short duration.
Judge Zaidan said, regardless of the outcome of the case, he wished to express his condolences to the family of Mr Hopkins.
Mr Hopkins’s death is not the first loss his grieving family has suffered in recent years, it has emerged. His sister Debbie died from cervical cancer in 2014.
Debbie was just 27 years old when she died, and her heartbroken mother Caitriona then vowed to campaign to lower the age at which doctors provide smear tests to young women.
Caitriona and her sons were yesterday being supported by neighbours and friends in the tight-knit community in Rathangan as they came to terms with their latest loss.
Mr Hopkins lived in the Beechgrove area of the town. His family are originally from the Ard Mhuire area of the town. Local Fianna Fáil councillor Anne Connolly said the news of Mr Hopkins’s death was “shocking and sad for his family and the whole community”.
“Our hearts go out to the family, especially after they have already suffered the loss of Debbie and their father as well,” said Ms Connolly.
“For Caitriona to lose two children and her husband is a terrible blow, and the community will be there to support them.
“Rathangan is a shocked community today, and we are all saddened for the family.”