Jozef's Puska's appeal against his conviction for the murder of schoolteacher Ashling Murphy has been postponed after he decided to change his barristers less than a week before the hearing was due to begin.
Puska killed Ms Murphy, aged 23, on 12 January 2022 by repeatedly stabbing her in the neck while she exercised along the canal towpath outside Tullamore, Co Offaly.
He was later convicted of murder and is serving a life sentence.
Last December, Court of Appeal President Ms Justice Caroline Costello set a hearing date of 23 and 24 April for Puska’s appeal against his conviction.
His lawyers told the court at the time that submissions were at "an advanced stage" and noted two judgments were awaited from the Court of Appeal that are relevant to his own appeal.
Puska, who told detectives that he stopped working in 2017 after slipping a disc in his back, has been granted legal aid for his appeal on the same basis as his representation during his trial at the Central Criminal Court - where he was allocated a solicitor, a senior counsel and two junior counsel.
At the Court of Appeal, Karl Monahan BL, with Michael Bowman SC, representing Puska told Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy, presiding, that owing to instructions given by Puska to his solicitor, "it has become necessary to make an application seeking to withdraw from the case".
He said Puska’s solicitor has engaged a new senior counsel who is in a position to come into the case but is not in a position to go ahead with the appeal hearing scheduled to start next Thursday, 23 April.
Mr Monahan said he thought it "expedient" to bring the matter to the attention of the court "at the earliest opportunity".
He said all counsel involved in the case required to be released but Puska’s solicitor remains instructed.
"He has spoken to him and engaged an alternative senior counsel," said Mr Monahan, adding: "He expects that counsel will follow in due course."
Mr Monahan confirmed to Ms Justice Kennedy that this would impact on the scheduled hearing date.
Asked by Ms Justice Kennedy if Puska - who was not present in court today - was aware of "all of this", Mr Monahan said it was "on his [Puska’s] instructions".
Counsel for the Director of the Public Prosecutions (DPP), Anne-Marie Lawlor SC, told the court the DPP’s legal team were in a position to proceed, adding it was their preference to go ahead with the hearing and that Ms Murphy’s family were "anxious" to see the case proceed. She noted the matter had been set down for two days.
She said she understood the position that Mr Monahan and Mr Bowman found themselves in but wished to avoid a situation where the matter was "left over" until the hearing date next week.
Ms Lawlor said the case had experienced delays and had taken a "considerable amount of time" to come to hearing.
Noting that "unfortunately there is little possibility" of the matter proceeding next week, owing to the "late change of hands", Ms Justice Kennedy vacated the hearing date.
The judge listed the matter for next Friday, April 24 and said she intended to give it "the earliest hearing date possible".
Puska’s solicitor said he would hope to be in a position to update the court next week.
"I’m going to be fixing a date for this next Friday one way or the other," the judge responded.
Last month, the DPP’s barristers were given more time to file their response to Puska’s extensive appeal against his conviction after it was revealed that the killer’s legal team were over a month late filing their paperwork.
Puska’s submissions were due to be filed by 16 January but were only received by the State in early March.
A barrister standing in for Puska’s lawyers apologised for the delay in filing the papers, which he said had been due to a "mix up".
