LATEST | 

Tina Satchwell murder file will be sent to DPP ‘this week’ as husband remanded in custody

Richard Satchwell (57) was remanded in ongoing custody for another fortnight

Yesterday at 14:00

Gardaí expect the case file on the Tina Satchwell murder investigation to be with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) by the end of the week.

It comes as Richard Satchwell (57) was remanded in ongoing custody for another fortnight as he appeared by video link before Judge Brian O’Shea at Clonmel District Court.

The English-born truck driver, who has an address at Grattan Street, Youghal, Co Cork, was charged with the murder of his wife, Tina Satchwell, nee Dingivan, at a special sitting of Cashel District Court last October.

He is charged with the murder of his wife on March 20, 2017, at a location in Cork.

Superintendent Adrian Gamble told Clonmel District Court that he personally supervised the submission of the case file to the state solicitor for north Cork, Jerry Healy.

Last month, Judge O’Shea had queried the length of time it was taking for the case file to be submitted to the DPP given that the murder charge was first levelled against Mr Satchwell last October.

“I can assure you the entire file is with Mr Healy today,” Supt Gamble told Clonmel District Court. “I personally oversaw that. He has assured me the file will be with the director (DPP) this week.”

Supt Gamble said there were matters such as expert reports that were outside the time control of gardaí.

Judge O’Shea noted that Mr Satchwell has been in custody for 11 and a half weeks.

The defendant appeared by video link wearing a grey tracksuit top. He only spoke to confirm his identity and that he could follow the proceedings before Clonmel District Court.

Defence solicitor Eddie Burke said the remand to Clonmel District Court later this month was not by consent. He sought that the case be listed for a date within the next fortnight.

Judge O’Shea remanded Mr Satchwell in continuing custody to appear again before Clonmel District Court on January 16.

The court was also told that gardaí will give the keys to the Grattan Street property in Youghal to Mr Burke’s office.

Mr Satchwell, who is originally from Leicester, has been resident in Cork for over 20 years.

He was arrested after gardaí searched the home he shared with his wife Tina last October after a six-year missing person investigation.

Mr Satchwell was charged with the murder of his wife after her remains were discovered by specialist garda search teams who had excavated a concrete floor and walled-up area underneath the stairwell of the Youghal property.

He had been arrested when the search operation started, but was then released without charge. He was re-arrested within 24 hours when Ms Satchwell’s remains were found at the property.

Detective Garda David Kelleher previously told the court that 38 statements were requested from the initial arrest, detention, further extensions and the subsequent re-arrest of Mr Satchwell.

He said they had been awaiting state pathologist, forensic, forensic archaeology, anthropology, state laboratory and toxicology reports.

Mr Satchwell was previously denied bail at a High Court sitting at Cloverhill Court last year.

Gardaí had objected to bail on the basis of the serious nature of the charge involved and that the accused was a potential flight risk.

Judge Siobhan Lankford formally denied the bail application having considered the various submissions.

She said the defendant faces “very serious charges…the most serious charges on the criminal canon”.

Mr Satchwell was first charged with the murder of his wife on October 14 before a special sitting of Cashel District Court, three days after the human remains were found at the Youghal property.

Tina Satchwell was a native of St Bernard’s Place in Fermoy, Co Cork.

She had moved to the UK where she met her husband. They returned from the UK and lived for a time in Fermoy before relocating to Youghal.

She was reported missing on March 24, 2017 by her husband.

Over the next six years, gardaí followed 400 lines of inquiry, looked at hundreds of hours of CCTV and took witness statements from a total of 170 people.

Sea and land searches were carried out by gardaí at various locations in east Cork following Ms Satchwell’s disappearance.

In March 2018, gardaí conducted a major search operation for Tina over two weeks at Mitchel’s Wood in Castlemartyr, Co Cork.

On the sixth anniversary of her disappearance last March, gardaí issued a renewed appeal for information. Ms Satchwell would have celebrated her 50th birthday last year.

Candlelit vigils in her memory were held in Youghal and Fermoy last October.