Man charged with Mairéad’s murder
A PSYCHIATRIC assessment has been ordered on a 27-yearold man accused of murdering a popular shop manager in Kilkenny on Thursday night.
Shane Smyth of Flat 3, McGuinness House, Evans Lane in the city was charged yesterday with the murder of Mairéad Moran, 26, who was stabbed up to 11 times while locking up Holland & Barrett, the health shop where she worked as an assistant manager.
The accused was brought before a special sitting of Kilkenny District Court yesterday afternoon and remanded in custody to Cloverhill Prison, to appear at Cloverhill District Court next Friday, 16 May.
Mr Smyth was not called to speak during the brief hearing.
A small crowd of about 20 people gathered outside the courthouse as the accused was driven away in an unmarked garda car, minutes after the end of his court appearance.
Detective Sergeant Colin Furlong gave evidence during the hearing of charging Mr Smyth at 1.37am on Saturday morning. He told the court that he asked the accused if he had any reply to the charge. The accused said: ‘Not at this moment’.
Shane Smyth, who is originally from Knocktopher, arrived at the courthouse in an unmarked garda car at 12.50pm, and consulted with his solicitor for some time before being escorted into the courtroom at 1.20pm.
Ms Moran, a single woman from Kilmaganny in Co. Kilkenny but living in the city for the last number of years, was attacked on Thursday. She was helped by passers-by but was later pronounced dead in hospital.