Lawyers representing Jozef Puska in his bid to overturn his conviction for the murder of schoolteacher Ashling Murphy have told a court that the “ambit of the appeal” may change.
Puska is serving a life sentence for the murder of Ms Murphy, aged 23, whom he attacked and stabbed repeatedly in the neck as she exercised along the canal towpath outside Tullamore, Co Offaly on 12 January 2022, reports The Mirror.
Puska’s appeal against his conviction for murder was originally due to be heard on 23 April, but this date was vacated after his barristers made an application days beforehand to withdraw from the case as a result of instructions given by Puska to his solicitor.
A week later, Senior Counsel John Berry confirmed he had come on record to represent Puska and Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy, presiding at the Court of Appeal, set a new hearing date of 15 July for the conviction appeal, reports The Mirror.
The matter was listed for case management at the Court of Appeal before Ms Justice Kennedy, and when it was called on, Mr Berry told the court that he had received “an indication of an instruction” in the last two days.
He said that instruction would have to be confirmed in person but that it could “dramatically reduce down the time needed,” reports The Mirror.
Counsel asked that the matter be listed again in seven days’ time, with Ms Justice Kennedy asking if this was “simply with a view to decreasing the time needed.”
“It may be that the ambit of the appeal will change as well,” Mr Berry replied, reports The Mirror.
The barrister said he would discuss the matter with counsel for the Director of Public Prosecutions, Anne-Marie Lawlor SC, adding that “if what happens comes to pass” he did not think “the court will be in any way inconvenienced or discommoded.”
Ms Justice Kennedy adjourned the matter to 10 July, reports The Mirror.
Puska, who told detectives that he stopped working in 2017 after slipping a disk in his back, has been granted legal aid for his appeal on the same basis as his representation during his trial at the Central Criminal Court — where he was allocated a solicitor, a senior counsel and two junior counsel.
The 35-year-old, with a last address at Lynally Grove, Mucklagh, Co Offaly, had pleaded not guilty to murdering Ms Murphy at Cappincur, Tullamore, on 12 January 2022, reports The Mirror.
The jury found that Puska stabbed Ms Murphy 11 times in the neck and slashed her once with the edge of a blade before leaving her to die in the thick thorns and brambles by the side of the canal towpath between Tullamore town and Digby Bridge, with a monument now standing where she died.
Puska was placed at the scene by the presence of his distinctive green and black bicycle a few feet from Ms Murphy’s body, and had been captured on CCTV cycling the same bicycle around Tullamore earlier that afternoon, following two women before heading towards the canal, reports The Mirror.
Puska’s DNA was found on the bike as was his fingerprint, while his DNA was also found under Ms Murphy’s fingernails, with the prosecution arguing that this showed Ashling had scratched her attacker as she fought to save her own life.
When gardaà spoke to Puska the day after the murder, his face and hands were covered in scratches consistent with him crawling through the thorns and briars by the side of the towpath where he murdered Ms Murphy, reports The Mirror.
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