Moroccan accused of murdering teenager

A 21-YEAR-OLD Moroccan man was last night charged at a special sitting of Limerick District Court with the murder of a Somali teenager in Limerick last Saturday.

Farah Redouane was remanded in custody until tomorrow by Judge Aeneas McCarthy on a charge alleging he murdered Ali Ibraham Lal at the Sarsfield Bridge Hotel.

Det Sgt Eamonn O’Neill gave evidence of arresting the accused and charging him. He said that, in answer to the charge, the accused said: “The charge is right, but it is not my intention to kill him.”

The accused and the youth had been residing at the hotel which is used by the Government to house asylum seekers.

Saturday’s fatal attack happened after a row broke out on an upstairs landing of Sarsfield Bridge Hotel at about 2pm. The victim made his way downstairs where he collapsed. An ambulance brought him to the Mid-Western Regional Hospital where he underwent emergency surgery. He died a number of hours later after he had been transferred to the intensive care unit.

The accused, Farah Redouane, was held at Henry Street headquarters under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act before being brought before Limerick District Court last night.

After being charged, he was remanded in custody.

Gardaí made contact with a brother of the dead teenager who lives in England and he travelled to Limerick on Saturday night and formally identified the body of his brother.

State pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy carried out a post mortem on the body of the youth yesterday afternoon.

Meanwhile, gardaí at Roxboro Road are carrying out a major investigation into the death of bachelor Raymond Mullane whose body was discovered at his home in Hyde Avenue, Ballinacurra Weston, on Christmas Eve.

Mr Mullane’s body was discovered upstairs in the house where he lived alone. A postmortem found a mark to his chest. No weapon was found at the scene and there was no sign of a forced entry.

The scene is still being preserved as further forensic tests are being carried out.

The gardaí are also awaiting the results of further pathology tests.

A Garda spokesman said: “We are still keeping an open mind into the circumstances of this man’s death. A wound mark was found to the man’s chest and this has to be explored.”