Woman who drove off pier with man who loved her loses appeal against murder conviction
A woman convicted of murdering a man by driving him off a harbour in Co Wicklow has had her appeal rejected.
Marta Herda of Pairc na Saile, Emoclew Road in Arklow, Co Wicklow is serving a life sentence for the murder of Csaba Orsas in March 2013.
The trial was told that Mr Orsas, a work colleague of hers at the Brooklodge Hotel in Wicklow, had fallen in love with Ms Herda.
She did not feel the same way about him and was annoyed at his persistent advances.
She was found guilty of murdering Mr Orsas by driving her VW Passat through the crash barriers at the South Quay in Arklow and into the water early on the morning of March 26, 2013.
The court heard Ms Herda knew that the deceased could not swim, and his body washed up a number of hours later.
Six grounds of appeal were raised, mainly around how the judge in the trial provided information to the jury - particularly in regard to whether she drove into the water by accident.
The three-judge appeal court ruled that the judge acted correctly and entirely dismissed Marta Herda's appeal.
She visibly broke down in court as the judgement was delivered this morning and will return to prison to continue serving her life sentence.
