Galway Bay fm newsroom- A man jailed for the killing of a Glenamaddy factory worker has lost his appeal against his conviction for murder
33 year old Latvian national Andrejs Krauze, of Dudley Heights, Glenamaddy, had pleaded NOT guilty to murdering his fellow countryman, 30 year old Juris Buls in the county on July 7 or 8, 2011.
Krauze strangled Buls to death, after he refused to withdraw a Garda complaint against him.
The Central Criminal Court heard that Mr Buls had failed to appear for a night shift at Titan Plastics in Glenamaddy on July 7 2011, and was reported missing.
It was the prosecution’s case that Krauze had gone to Mr Buls' home and strangled him before moving his body to the woods.
Krauze was unanimously found guilty by a jury and given the mandatory life sentence by Ms Justice Margaret Heneghan on March 29, 2017.
Giving judgment in the three-judge court, President of the Court of Appeal Mr Justice George Birmingham said none of the grounds of appeal had caused the court to doubt the fairness of the trial or the safety of the verdict.
Krauze was interviewed in March, 2012 while serving a prison sentence for theft in the Latvian capital, Riga.
His lawyers submitted to the Court of Appeal that the Garda interview did not comply with Ireland’s Custody Regulations.
Mr Justice Birmingham said there was “no hint whatsoever” that Krauze’s admissions in the interview were the result of coercion or oppression or the offering of an inducement.
Krauze’s lawyers further submitted that the trial judge erred in admitting evidence of previous bad character, in relation to an earlier altercation with the deceased.
Mr Justice Birmingham said the court was in no doubt that the jury was entitled to hear this evidence, given that it provided a motive for the murder, on the prosecution’s case.
Finally, it was submitted that the interpreter in Riga was an employee of the Latvian Police Service and, as such, could not be regarded as independent.
The court held there was no suggestion anything was misinterpreted
Mr Justice Birmingham, who sat with Mr Justice John Edwards and Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy, dismissed the appeal.
