Inga Ozolina pleaded not guilty to boyfriend’s murder

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Inga Ozolina pleaded not guilty to murdering Audrius Pukas. The charge relates to his death at The Malthouse, Roscrea, Co Tipperary, on 20 November 2016. The proceedings were reported on 30 April 2019.

Prosecuting counsel Paul Murray SC said the couple’s relationship was volatile and sometimes violent. He said the jury would have to consider self-defence and that evidence would be given that Ms Ozolina told gardaí a physical altercation had occurred between her and Mr Pukas that night and she had picked up a knife. The State’s case was that self-defence did not apply and that she had used the knife to kill him with the intention of doing so.

Mr Murray said the jury would hear that a post-mortem found three knife wounds on Mr Pukas, including a fatal wound to the chest.

The trial was continuing at the Central Criminal Court before Mr Justice Alexander Owens and a jury.