Gardaí Give Evidence Of Efforts To Resuscitate Ashling Murphy
The trial of a man accused of Ashling Murphy's murder has heard from two Gardaí who attended the scene of where her body was found.
Garda Tom Dunne from Tullamore Garda Station says he received a call at around 3:35pm on January 12th, 2022 – from a man who was described as sounding very distressed.
He and his colleague Garda Shane Hunter made their way to the scene, where Garda Dunne said the body of Ashling Murphy was in a ditch along the Grand Canal.
He said she was wearing a jacket, which he unzipped so he could apply CPR and chest compressions.
He said the two Gardaí alternated applying chest compressions for about 10 minutes until Ambulance personnel arrived.
The court heard Ms. Murphy was found with a phone in her pocket, along with with keys to a SEAT car and a necklace around her neck which said ‘Ashling’.
Garda Hunter in his evidence said he noticed thin lacerations on Ms. Murphy’s neck, and that he recovered her phone from an open pocket.
The court also heard from State Pathologist Dr. Sally Anne Collis who conducted a post mortem examination of Ashling Murphy at Midlands Regional Hospital in Tullamore on the 13th of January 2022.
She said it was her conclusion that Ms. Murphy died as a result of stab wounds to the neck, with no contributory factors.
Dr. Collis said she found at least 12 sharp wound injuries – caused by a knife or a similar instrument.
She told the court that there were also some injuries to Ms. Murphy’s fingers.
She said they may have been defensive in nature as Ms. Murphy may have held up her hands to try and protect herself.
Earlier the jury of nine men and three women heard from a woman named Emma Doyle, who was out for a run along the grand canal on that date.
She described a woman coming around the corner, followed by a man on a bicycle in close proximity, who then proceeded to overtake her.
33-year-old Jozef Puska, of Lynally Grove, Mucklagh, Co. Offaly, denies the murder of the schoolteacher along the Grand Canal in Tullamore on January 12th, 2022.
