Marta Herda pleads not guilty to Arklow harbour murder

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

Marta Herda is charged with murdering her colleague Csaba Orsos at South Quay, Arklow, on 26 March 2013. She has pleaded not guilty. The proceedings were reported on 18 July 2016.

Both had been in her car when it entered the water that morning. She escaped at the harbour, while his body was found on a nearby beach later that day.

On 18 July 2016, the ninth day of her trial at the Central Criminal Court, video of her garda interviews was played. Detective Sergeant Fergus O’Brien was cross-examined by the defence about interviews he conducted following her arrest in August 2013.

He agreed that the gardai’s handwritten memos did not contain everything she had said that could be seen on the videos. Segments were then played at the defence’s request.

In the interviews, Marta Herda said she had hoped to try to save Csaba Orsos if she saw him in the water. She said a friend had warned that they would die together, explaining that her friend thought he would have pulled her down.

Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy told the jury to consider the case only on the evidence before them. He warned that media reports could omit evidence and give an incorrect impression. The trial was continuing.