Jury resumes deliberations in Ashling Murphy murder trial

Jozef Puska has pleaded not guilty.

Flowers are left at a Garda checkpoint in Tullamore (Dominic McGrath/PA) (PA Archive)

The jury in the trial of the man accused of murdering school teacher Ashling Murphy has resumed its deliberations.

Ms Murphy, 23, was killed while exercising on a canal path in Tullamore, Co Offaly, on the afternoon of January 12 last year.

Jozef Puska, 33, of Lynally Grove in Mucklagh, Tullamore, has pleaded not guilty to her murder.

The jury at the trial at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin deliberated for a brief period late on Wednesday afternoon.

Judge Mr Justice Tony Hunt sent the nine men and three women of the jury out to resume their considerations at 10.53am on Thursday after clarifying some matters related to legal principles and evidence in the case.

“You return the verdict in line with the evidence and that’s your ultimate obligation at the end of the day,” he told the jurors.

Slovakian national Puska, dressed in a grey jacket and white shirt, watched from the dock on the other side of the court as the judge addressed the panel.