A crowd of more than 100 people, mainly women, heckled a man accused of murdering his wife as he was escorted to and from a Co Tipperary courthouse yesterday.
Mr John Collinson (49), an English native with an address at Goes in the Netherlands was charged at a sitting of Carrick-on-Suir District Court with the murder of his wife, 51-year-old mother of four Margaret Rosaleen (Rosie) Collinson at the Bell and Salmon Arms Hotel, Carrick-on-Suir, on Sunday, March 3rd.
The group gathered outside the courthouse well in advance of the hearing, and shouted abuse at Mr Collinson as he arrived. The accused, an oil rig worker, showed little emotion during court proceedings.
Garda P.J. Griffin said that when the charges were read to the accused yesterday morning, Mr Collinson replied: "I am not guilty of murder, but I will plead guilty to killing Rosaleen unlawfully. Give me the maximum sentence for that, but I am not admitting to murder."
Judge David Riordan agreed to remand the accused in custody, following an application made on behalf of the DPP by Supt Dick Burke.
The body of Mrs Collinson, a well known and popular person in Carrick-on-Suir, was discovered in a room of the Bell and Salmon Arms Hotel on Sunday.