The jury has retired to consider a verdict in the case of 54-year-old army sergeant John Crerar, who denies the murder of Kildare woman, Phyllis Murphy, almost 23 years ago.

The former army sergeant accused of murdering Kildare woman Phyllis Murphy almost 23 years ago has told his trial jury that it is "absolutely impossible" that there is a DNA match between his blood and semen found in her body.

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.