A teenager charged with the murder of a man in Co Tipperary has been refused bail by the High Court.
Nathan Hanlon (19), of Castleview, Ballyneale, Carrick-on-Suir, Co Tipperary, has been charged with murdering Ian Walsh (49) last month.
The naked body of Mr Walsh was found in a downstairs bathroom of his home in Ravenswood, Cregg Road, Carrick-on-Suir, Co Tipperary, on August 4th.
During a contested bail application on Friday, the High Court sitting at Cloverhill Courthouse heard the two men messaged each other through the gay dating app Grindr.
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It is alleged Mr Walsh, an Irish Rail employee, drove to pick up Mr Hanlon at 3.30am on August 2nd and the pair returned to his home. That was the last time he was seen alive.
The court heard a claim that Mr Walsh was stabbed 11 times between the neck and back. There were allegedly bloodstains on the stairs and the front door.
Prosecution counsel Gillian Finane said the accused and Mr Walsh had exchanged messages on Grindr on August 2nd about their sexual preferences and they shared explicit pictures.
She said gardaí were able to establish from their profiles that both men were in touch with each other and GPS locations for their messages matched their home addresses. The email address linked to the Grindr account that messaged Mr Walsh matched that of Mr Hanlon, the court heard.
Forensic evidence from the scene revealed fingerprints and palmprints matching those of Mr Hanlon, while his cellular DNA was found on the inside waistband of bloodstained boxer shorts recovered from the upstairs bathroom, Ms Finane told the court.
She said CCTV footage showed the accused walking out of the estate at 7.31am with a large rucksack and carrier bag. He walked towards the blueway out of sight of CCTV cameras, but was seen again at 8.31pm without the rucksack or the carrier bag, she said. Gardaí believe he dumped the bags in the River Suir, the court heard.
A further search of the family home on August 20th found an Irish Rail journal belonging to Mr Walsh and an Aldi bag with a pair of bloodstained green pants, bloodstained tissue paper, Crocs footwear and the blade of a knife, the court heard.
Ms Finane said it is the State’s case that Mr Hanlon has been caught “red-handed”, given the CCTV footage and the forensic evidence gathered from the scene and his home.
Detective Inspector Declan Boland said they were unable to find a murder weapon, which he suggested was a double-bladed hunting knife. He suspects Mr Hanlon had dumped the weapon after leaving the victim’s house, he told the court.
He said gardaí have been unable to establish a motive for the crime, which showed no signs of being pre-meditated. Due to the seriousness of the offence, he “strongly” objected to the accused being granted bail.
Counsel for the accused, Ronan Prendergast, said Mr Hanlon has no passport and is unlikely to be a flight risk. He said the family would monitor his bail conditions if he was released.
Ms Justice Siobhan Lankford said it was a very difficult case. On the one hand there was the seriousness of the charge; on the other hand he was a young man, she said.
She declined Mr Hanlon’s application for bail, saying she needed time to deal with the matter.
She adjourned the case until later this month.
