Gardaí investigate Michaela’s computers

GARDAÍ yesterday took computers from the home of schoolgirl Michaela Davis, who will be laid to rest tomorrow, with her funeral service due to take place in her local church just minutes from her home.

The 12-year-old’s body was found on Saturday afternoon, dumped near a quiet laneway next to a Dublin commuter rail line and the Royal Canal in west Dublin.

Yesterday, gardaí began investigating internet files on computers taken from her home in the Village estate in Porterstown, Clonsilla, in a bid to uncover who she might have been in contact with in the timeframe leading up to her death.

It is believed she may have been spending time with young people several years older than herself.

The results of other forensic and DNA tests are also being awaited by gardaí, before a complete file can be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions in the case.

Michaela will be laid to rest in Clonsilla churchyard following a funeral Mass at St Mochta’s Church. Celebrants at the Mass are to include parish priest, Fr John Daly.

Michaela’s body was removed to her home in the Village estate in Porterstown last night and will remain there until tomorrow morning.

Last night at 8pm, prayers were said for the tragic schoolgirl in the house she shared with her grief-stricken parents, Brendan and Deirdre, and her older brother, Brendan.

An 18-year-old youth, Jonathan Byrne from nearby Lohunda Downs in Clonsilla, was on Monday morning charged with her murder last Saturday.

He is due to appear again before Dublin District Court on Friday morning.

Friends of the popular 12-year-old wept openly on Saturday afternoon close to the scene where her body was found on Saturday.

Yesterday a friend set up a YouTube tribute which attracted a number of comments from more of Michaela’s peers, including some who attended St Mochta’s National School with her.

Tributes were also posted on the RIP.ie website, including one from a woman named Sharon Ryan in which she wrote: “My sincere sympathy goes to you all.

“As a mother of a daughter myself I cannot imagine what you are going through. I will pray for you all and for Michaela.”

Another tribute page, this time on Facebook, now has more than 7,100 followers. A recent message posted yesterday read: “We all still in shock. Us your friend can’t get over it ”

Many of her friends have just this week begun First Year at Luttrellstown Community College, where last week Michaela collected her timetable for the school year.

In a statement released late on Monday Michaela’s parents said her death had been “heart-wrenching”.

“All Michaela’s friends are heartbroken at the moment and cannot get their heads around this tragedy, no more than the rest of the extended family and friends,” the statement read.