Man appears in court accused of Aoife’s murder

A lorry driver charged with the murder of pregnant nanny Aoife Phelan is to receive psychiatric treatment in prison.

Up to 100 onlookers stood in silence outside Portlaoise District Court as Robert Corbet was brought before a special sitting. The court heard the 24-year-old, of Sheffield, Timahoe Rd, on the outskirts of the town, said “no” and shook his head when charged with murdering Ms Phelan on Oct 25, the day she disappeared.

Her badly beaten body was found hidden in a bin buried in a pit at the back of a property on the outskirts of the Co Laois town on Wednesday.