Ashling Murphy witness recalls seeing 'kicking legs'

Ashling Murphy was a primary school teacher and talented folk musician

A woman who was in the area where Irish teacher Ashling Murphy was killed last year said she came across a man in the hedge who appeared to be crouched over someone.

Jenna Stack, a teacher from Tullamore, told a Dublin court she was ordered by the man to "get away", before she and her friend left to raise the alarm.

Jozef Puska, 33, of Lynally Grove, Mucklagh in County Offaly, is charged with the Ms Murphy's murder.

The 23-year-old was fatally assaulted while jogging near Tullamore on 12 January 2022.

Mr Puska previously replied "not guilty" at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin, through a Slovakian interpreter.

On Wednesday, Ms Stack said she was going for a run with her friend Aoife along the canal at about 15:15 local time 12 January 2022.

The court heard she had seen a bike in the ditch, heard loud rustling and "a lot of noise" coming from the hedge.

"It was like someone was struggling to be honest," Ms Stack said, adding that she initially thought someone had fallen off the bike.

She told the court she then stepped in closer and could see the back of a person wearing what looked like "a navy bomber padded jacket" with an emblem.

'Like she was crying out for help'

She said she saw someone who appeared to be crouched over someone and was "holding her down".

"His face, his teeth were grinding and he shouted 'get away'," Ms Stack told the court.

"The girl was lying on the ground and she was kicking so hard, like she was crying out for help.

"She was moving whatever part of her body she could to get help," she said, adding that she had made no sound.

She said that she was afraid he was going to rape her, and she told him she would call the gardai (Irish police), despite the fact neither women had their phones with them.

The interaction lasted around 30 seconds, Ms Stack said.

Barrister for the defence, Michael Bowman, suggested to Ms Stack that the person seen crouching on the day of Ms Murphy's death may have been "endeavouring to try and assist".

He also suggested to the court that Mr Puska's recollection was there was an interaction with Ms Stack, but he could not make out what was being said.

Mr Puska's lawyer also suggested he had not called out aggressively, but in pain from having his legs cut on the briars.

He told the court that Mr Puska's recollection is that Ms Murphy was moving, but said it was not in a "scissors motion" that Ms Stack described.

Mr Bowman also suggested to the witness that Ms Murphy's hands could have been on Mr Puska's forearms as he tried to stop the bleeding.

Ms Stack replied that she did not see that and said the person was kicking her legs.

"That was her cry for help," she told the court.

Jozef Puska denies murdering primary school musician Ashling Murphy

Asked by Mr Bowman about her identification of a suspect from a line-up on the day after Ms Murphy's death, who was not Mr Puska, Ms Stack said they were "similar".

The lawyer then told the court that there were several aspects accepted by Mr Puska, including that Ms Murphy was brought from the canal walkway to hospital until she was identified, and that he accepted the cause of death conclusion reached by a pathologist.

The trial of Jozef Puska is taking place at Dublin's Central Criminal Court

An employee of Waterways Ireland also gave evidence to the trial on Wednesday.

Charlie Kelly was cleaning the canal in Tullamore with his colleague when he said two women approached them "very distressed looking, agitated" and asked them for help.

They told him there was a woman "being attacked by a man" about half way down the canal and when he heard about the bike, he thought two people had crashed into each other.

Mr Kelly said two cyclists went towards the scene as they would get there faster than he and his colleague on foot.

When he arrived at the ditch, Mr Kelly saw one of the cyclists on the phone, as well as a bike and a pink hat.

Through the hedge, he told the court he saw a woman's body in a GAA tracksuit with one of her legs up against a tree stump.

"I knew she was dead, there was very little colour in her hands... snow white," he told the court.

A elderly woman and a small child then approached the scene, but Mr Kelly warned them to stay away.