The scene of the stabbing on 3 January.

The scene of the stabbing on 3 January.

A TEENAGER, WHO has been receiving ongoing psychiatric treatment since he was charged with the murder of a Japanese man in a stabbing in Dundalk in January, was unable to attend another court hearing today.

Mohamed Morei (18), whose nationality has not yet been determined, was remanded in custody on 4 January after being charged with the murder of 24-year-old Yosuke Sasaki.

He was unable to appear at his fifth scheduled hearing today at Cloverhill District Court.

He has been receiving ongoing medical care in the Central Mental Hospital (CMH) in Dundrum and had also been unfit to attend three previous hearings.

Judge Anthony Halpin further remanded him in custody in his absence and adjourned the case until 8 March next.

Four weeks ago the court was handed a letter from a consultant psychiatrist at the CMH, stating that Morei would not be able to attend Cloverhill District Court until mid-February.

Yosuke Sasaki, from Ebina, west of Tokyo, was fatally stabbed on Avenue Road shortly before 9am on 3 January last.

He had worked at National Pen, a call centre in Dundalk, Co. Louth and had lived in Ireland for the past year.

Following his death, an Irish man was injured when he was stabbed a short time later at a nearby location. At 9.40am, gardai received a report that another local man had been injured in an attack at Seatown Place.

Morei, whose nationality has not yet been confirmed, was initially remanded in custody by Dundalk District Court on 4 January after he was charged with the murder of Sasaki.

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Garda Inspector Martin Beggy said at that hearing that the youth’s nationality had not yet been undetermined.

If he seeks bail this application will have to be made in the High Court, because he is facing a murder charge.

In the week after the incident, the people of Dundalk gathered in the town centre for a candle lit vigil in memory of Sasaki’s life. In a letter from his parents, read aloud by local councillor John McGahon, they said that their son had been very happy in Ireland.

A fund-raising drive was also launched by local people to cover the costs of the repatriation of his remains.

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