30-year-old denies Sligo funeral murder

A 30-year-old man has denied murder at a funeral in Sligo almost three years ago.

In the Central Criminal Court in Dublin today, 30-year-old Martin McDonagh, of Cherry Lane, Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire, pleaded not guilty to the murder of Patrick 'Deuce' Ward, 38, at a funeral in Ballymote, Co Sligo on May 10 1999.

A jury of seven women and five men will begin hearing the case later today before Mr Justice Carney.