A 29-year-old man is expected to appear in court today charged in connection with the death of a man whose body was found with extensive head injuries in Waterford city early yesterday morning.
The body of 49-year-old Thomas Jordan was discovered by gardaí in an upstairs flat in a house at William Street, near Waterford city centre, at around 5am yesterday after police at Waterford station received a call alerting them to the tragedy.
Officers found the body in a flat belonging to another man who lived in the same building. They immediately cordoned off the scene pending a forensic examination by Garda technical experts.
A short time after the discovery, a 29-year-old man presented himself at Waterford Garda station at Ballybricken and began helping gardaí with their inquiries into the death of Mr Jordan.
The man, who is understood to be from Co Meath but who has been living in Waterford for several years, was subsequently arrested under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act and is being questioned by detectives about the killing.
Gardaí were last night awaiting the results of a postmortem examination carried out by State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy.
According to informed Garda sources, Mr Jordan, who had been living alone in the flat for some eight months, was last seen alive at around 4pm on Wednesday.
A well-known athlete in the 1970s and 1980s, Mr Jordan, a separated father, was a native of St John's Park in Waterford city. He had previously lived for a period in Portlaw in Co Waterford before moving back into the city to live at William Street.
Garda sources said last night that the man who is currently being questioned is expected to be charged with assault causing harm to Mr Jordan when he appears at Waterford District Court this morning.
Gardaí will await the results of Dr Cassidy's postmortem examination to determine the cause and time of death before preparing a file on the matter for the Director of Public Prosecutions.
It is understood that more serious charges may be brought arising out of Mr Jordan's death.