Accused Man For Sophie Watson’s Murder Is In Custody

The accused man for Sophie Watson’s murder is now remanded and to remain in custody. The murder took place in Magherafelt, County Derry.

Sophie Watson, 57, was discovered dead from several stab wounds at her Ashgrove Park, Magherafelt, house.

(Also read: Nell McCafferty, The Irish Journalist And Campaigner, Dies At 80)

Sophie Watson gave no response at her home on Sunday afternoon and this was when the alarm of suspected murder was known by the local police.

Since she had suffered from various stab wounds, she was declared dead on the spot.

The accused man, Andezej Pajaczkowski, 43 years old, also lived in the same vicinity in Magherafelt. He revealed to the court that he had been residing in Northern Ireland for the previous 20 years.

Through a video link, the man appeared before the district judge on Wednesday morning. He was being held at Belfast’s Musgrave PSNI Station’s Serious Custody Suite.

He was wearing a grey custody suit with a beard on his face when he appeared before the judge. The Polish man revealed his details like name, date of birth, address etc so that a proper hearing and charge could be initiated against him.

Sophie Watson’s case hearing

Magherafelt Magistrates in the Derry courthouse were present to hear the case. A detective constable told the judge, Oonagh Mullan, to connect with the accused man for the murder of Sophie Watson via video link.

The defence solicitor of the accused Polish, Eoghan McKenna pointed out to the judge that his client is “not guilty” of the murder charges.

The client has not made any appeal for bail at the moment but said he might request it at a later point.

The solicitor added, “We also require some investigation of bail address issues and I also want to obtain some medical evidence before progressing the bail application”. The solicitor was of the view that the current investigation would be “complicated and complex”.

The judge has again ordered the accused to appear before the same court on 18 September, again with a video link.

The detectives assured that their inquiries are still ongoing and the details about the murder are still being gathered with the help of the locals.

The police have requested the locals to come forward with any evidence, if any, and post it anonymously, if they like, to the charity Crimestoppers.