An 18-year-old youth charged with the murder of a Japanese man in a stabbing in Dundalk was “unavailable and not fit to be produced”, a court was told on Thursday.

Mohamed Morei, who was remanded in custody on January 4th after being charged with the murder of 24-year-old Yosuke Sasaki, failed to appear at his third hearing as he was receiving ongoing treatment in the Central Mental Hospital (CMH) in Dundrum, Dublin

Defence solicitor Barry Callan provided Judge Victor Blake with a letter from a consultant psychiatrist at the CMH. The letter stated the defendant would not be in a position to attend his case at Cloverhill District Court over the next four weeks.

Judge Blake further remanded the accused in custody in his absence and adjourned the case until February 8th, when it will be listed for mention. He also asked Mr Callan to let the court know “if there were any changes in Mr Morei’s circumstances”, saying an updated letter would suffice in place of an official report.

Mr Sasaki was fatally stabbed on Avenue Road shortly before 9am on January 3rd.

From Ebina, west of Tokyo, Mr Sasaki 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 on Coes Road in the town.