I punched like mad.. to get it out of her

Trial hears murder accused interviews after Nadine attack

- ALISON O’RIORDAN

A BOXER accused of murdering Nadine Lott told gardai he was “pounding” her and “punching like mad”, his trial heard.

Daniel Murtagh, who has admitted the manslaughter of his former partner, told officers: “I knew she was with a lad in Arklow and I was just trying to get it out of her.”

When asked by gardai how his hands were not badly damaged, the 34-year-old said he had “boxed for years and my knuckles are conditioned” and added: “If I wanted to kill her, I’d kill her.”

Jurors at the Central Criminal Court spent today listening to the third and fourth Garda interviews in Murtagh’s trial.

He denies murdering 30-year-old Nadine at her apartment in St Mary’s Court, Arklow, Co Wicklow, on December 17, 2019.

In his third interview with gardai, Murtagh was asked where he had been for three hours after leaving Nadine’s house and before crashing his car.