The jury has begun their deliberations in the trial of a 16-year-old boy accused of murdering Uransetseg Tserendorj as she walked home from work in Dublin’s financial district in January 2021.
Mr Justice Tony Hunt concluded his charge to the jurors on Tuesday afternoon telling them they must act judicially and not allow sympathy or unnecessary emotion to filter in when making their decision.
“Feelings of sympathy or like or dislike or anger or revulsion - all of those may well be visceral feelings that come up on hearing the evidence but you must look past those,” he told the jury of six men and six women.
He told jurors those feelings must “play no part in your decisions” and said their task was to weigh up the evidence, using their common sense and life experience.
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The teenager, who cannot be named because he is a minor, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Ms Tserendorj but guilty to her manslaughter on January 29th, 2021. The State did not accept his plea.
He has also pleaded guilty to producing a knife and to attempting to rob Ms Tserendorj at a walkway between George’s Dock and Custom House Quay on January 20th, 2021.
The now 16-year-old was 14 at the time of the incident.
The murder trial at the Central Criminal Court heard Ms Tserendorj was returning home from work at around 9pm on January 20th when she was confronted by the accused asking for money.
When she told him she did not have any money the teenager inflicted the fatal stab wound to her neck which severed her carotid artery.
Ms Tserendorj made her way to Connolly Station where she phoned her husband in distress and told him “I’m dying, please hurry”.
By the time she arrived at the Mater Hospital Ms Tserendorj was struggling to breath and despite the best efforts of medical staff to save her, she was declared dead over a week later on January 29th.
The trial also heard the teen again produced a knife later that evening after he tried and failed to steal a phone from a second woman a short time later.
Lawyers for the State and for the accused delivered their closing speeches in the trial on Monday.
Mr Justice Hunt told the six men and six women that the prosecution must prove its case beyond reasonable doubt and if they are not satisfied that the accused intended to kill or cause serious harm then the appropriate verdict is manslaughter.
He told the jury they must be unanimous in their decision. The jury will resume their deliberations on Wednesday.