Irish man accused of murdering his partner in Spanish hotel refused bail

Gerard Couzens

The Irish man suspected of killing his partner in Spain was remanded to prison on Wednesday by an investigating magistrate after a court hearing.

The hearing at Tarragona’s Court of Violence Against Women, a specialist court, took place behind-closed-doors and no details of what was said at the hearing were made public.

The man's alleged victim was named locally overnight as 36-year-old Kirsty Ward, but Spanish police said on Wednesday morning they would not be releasing or confirming the names of either the woman or the man they arrested.

A spokesman for the investigating magistrate confirmed late on Wednesday afternoon: “The Court of Violence Against Women in Tarragona today received the man arrested over the death of his partner at a hotel in Salou on Sunday.

“The investigating magistrate agreed to provisionally remand him in prison without bail.

“The case has been classified as a crime of homicide/assasination and will be categorised more specifically as the investigation progresses.”

Formal charges are only laid in Spain shortly before trial. The suspect has now been formally declared an ‘investigado’ – literally a person under investigation – following Wednesday’s hearing.

It was not immediately clear if the unnamed 30-year-old, said to be from the north Dublin area, had agreed to be questioned by the judge.

Before taking the decision on his prison remand, the investigating judge would have heard submissions from a state prosecutor and the suspect’s defence lawyer, neither of whom has been identified.

Investigation

The ongoing investigation will now take several months if not longer and end with the judge deciding whether to recommend charges and invite a prosecutor to submit an indictment.

The suspect can be summoned for further questioning at any time.

Any witnesses to Sunday’s incident at the four-star Magnolia Hotel, or anyone the police and judge feel could provide any relevant evidence, will have given their testimony before Wednesday’s hearing or will be called in the coming days to testify.

Their evidence will also be given in private.

The suspect has not been named by Spanish authorities.

The nearest prison to the court in Tarragona is Mas d’Enric Prison but court authorities have not confirmed this was where he was due to spend his first night in jail.

A well-placed source said before the court hearing: “Providing he does get remanded in custody pending an ongoing investigation, he could be taken to any one of a number of jails.

“Mas d’Enric is the closest to the court but the decision on where he might end up doesn’t always depend on proximity.”