Blood and semen samples that the DPP alleges link former army sergeant John Crerar to the murder of Kildare woman, Phyllis Murphy, remained in Garda lockers for 17 years, a jury has heard.

Injuries to the body of Phyllis Murphy, the young Kildare woman found naked and strangled in a wooded area near the Wicklow Gap more than 22 years ago, were consistent with rape, the state pathologist Dr John Harbison has told the trial of a former army sergeant accused of her murder.

The former army sergeant on trial for the murder of Kildare woman Phyllis Murphy over 22 years ago told gardai he could not remember ever speaking to her.