Retrial ordered for Bandon murder

The Court of Appeal has ordered that a man be retried for one of two murders, after finding that the trial judge in one of his trials, should have simply said ‘yes’ in response to a question from the jury.

Romanian national Ciprian Grozavu, aged 42, with an address at Bridge House, Sean Hales Place, Bandon, Co Cork, had pleaded not guilty to murdering Jonathan Duke, 27, at Bridge House, Bandon, on November 12, 2011.

Grozavu and his girlfriend at the time, Catherine O’Connor, aged 40, of the same address, lived in an apartment next to a bridge over the Bandon river. Mr Duke was killed in that apartment on November 13, 2011, and his body dumped in the river.