A Co Cork student has admitted the manslaughter but denied the murder of a Midleton schoolboy whose body was found dumped near an isolated beach eight days after he disappeared.
The trial began this morning of Wayne O'Donoghue (21), from Ballyedmond, Midleton.
He is charged with murdering 11-year-old Robert Holohan on January 4th this year.
Robert Holohan
At a special sitting of the Central Criminal Court in Cork this morning, the jury of seven women and five man heard that Mr O'Donoghue admitted manslaughter but was pleading not guilty to murder.
Mr O'Donoghue, dressed in a light grey suit, a plain blue shirt and silver tie, sat with his hands clasped together and his head slightly bowed, flanked by two gardaí.
The trial, which is being presided over by Mr Justice Paul Carney, is expected to last two to three weeks with the first evidence to be given at 2.00 pm.
Mr O'Donoghue was arrested on January 17th and charged with the manslaughter of Robert Holohan. The manslaughter charge was dropped and he was charged with murder on April 21st. He has made no application for bail to date.
Robert went missing near his Ballyedmond home after going out to play on a BMX bike. The bicycle was found at the roadside 500 metres from his home.
A massive search of the surrounding area was launched with thousands of people, gardaí, defence forces and civil defence involved. Eight days after his disappearance Robert's body was found covered in black plastic hidden in undergrowth at the edge of Inch Strand, 12 miles from his home.
A postmortem carried out by State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy showed that Robert died from asphyxiation.