A MAN charged with the rape and murder in Australia last month of Irishwoman Jill Meagher is believed to have tried to take his own life in prison and has undergone emergency surgery for self-inflicted wounds.
Adrian Ernest Bayley (41) was taken by ambulance yesterday morning from Melbourne Assessment Prison in Victoria.
He was brought to St Vincent’s Hospital in Fitzroy, Melbourne, where he has undergone emergency surgery and was recovering in hospital today.
The Australian department of justice confirmed a prisoner had been taken from the prison for treatment but the nature of the injuries was not stated.
Mr Bayley, from Coburg in Melbourne, was being held in custody at the maximum-security prison where he was found bleeding from extensive wounds on Sunday morning local time.
He is awaiting trial for the rape and murder of Ms Meagher, having been charged on September 27th with those offences.
The victim was last seen alive in the early hours of September 22nd after leaving a gathering of work colleagues in a pub in the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick.
The last recorded images of her were taken from a CCTV system from inside a shop as she was walking the short distance home after leaving her colleagues from the ABC television network.
Some five days later her body was discovered in a shallow grave at Gisborne South, about 30km from where she vanished.
Police arrested Mr Bayley and later found Ms Meagher’s body after the recorded images of the chief suspect were released. Mr Bayley’s arrest also followed an extensive campaign on social media in Australia and internationally to help solve the case.
Ms Meagher’s rape and murder are believed to have been opportunistic. When it became clear police feared she had met with foul play, a number of local women reported they had been attacked close to where Ms Meagher was last seen alive.
Ms Meagher worked in management with ABC Radio in Melbourne. She worked with RTÉ before emigrating.
She would have celebrated her 30th birthday on Saturday.
Friends gathered at an event in Melbourne to remember her. Ms Meagher’s husband Tom is in Ireland and is believed to have spent the weekend with his and his deceased wife’s family.
