A 19-year-old man charged with murdering a woman in Longford earlier this month was attacked yesterday as he was being escorted from Mullingar District Court.
David Brozovsky, who is charged with the murder of 37-year-old Longford woman Sharon Coughlan, had just been remanded in custody when a member of the public lunged forward and proceeded to punch and kick him several times.
The man, who was described by gardaí as a "very close friend" of the deceased woman, struck the accused in the head and body before being restrained by Sgt Pat Gallagher.
As the attacker was being led out of the court he screamed at Mr Brozovsky: "you won't be f*****g forgotten about, you b*****d!" He was detained by gardaí, who said he had been a close friend of the deceased woman for more than 22 years, but was later released without charge.
Mr Brozovsky is accused of the murder of Ms Coughlan, a mother of two, whose body was found in the downstairs bathroom of an unoccupied house in Great Water Street, Longford, on September 15th. She had worked as a barmaid at the Market Bar on Ballymahon Street for more than 20 years.
The Czech native was charged at a court sitting in Longford last week and detained at StPatrick's Institution pending the completion of a file for the DPP.
He was jeered on his arrival at the court for what was expected to be a brief remand hearing.
Mr Brozovsky, with an address at Grian Ard, Ardnacassa, Longford sat upright throughout the remand hearing and spoke only to confirm his name to Judge John Neilan.
During the hearing Judge Neilan called into question whether St Patrick's Institution was the right prison in which to detain Mr Brozovsky. He expressed concerns over the accused's age, as St Patrick's normally caters for prisoners under 18. His solicitor Frank Gearty said his client had no difficulty moving to another institution if required, but it was decided to keep the accused in St Patrick's.
Judge Neilan then remanded Mr Brozovsky to St Patrick's to appear again in Mullingar on October 11th.