Nathan Hanlon has been charged with murdering 49-year-old Ian Walsh. (Getty)
An Irish teenager has been charged with murdering a man he met on Grindr.
Nathan Hanlon, 19, of Castleview, Ballyneale, Carrick-on-Suir, in County Tipperary, is charged with murdering 49-year-old Ian Walsh.
According to The Irish Times, Walsh’s naked body was found at his home, also in Carrick-on-Suir, on 4 August.
During a bail application, the High Court was told that the two men had messaged each other on Grindr, with Walsh said to have mentioned his sexual preferences and sending explicit pictures.
Irish rail employee Walsh allegedly drove to pick up Hanlon at 3.30am on 2 August and they returned to his home.
The court heard that Walsh was stabbed 11 times between the neck and back, with bloodstains alleged to have been found on the stairs and the front door.
Prosecutor Gillian Finane said the police had matched the men’s profiles to their home address. It was alleged that forensic evidence revealed fingerprints and palm prints matching Hanlon’s while his DNA was found on the waistband of blood-stained boxers.
The court heard that CCTV footage showed Hanlon in the area just after 7.30am with a large rucksack and carrier bag. A search of the family home on 20 August turned up an Irish Rail journal belonging to Walsh and an Aldi bag with a pair of blood-stained green pants and tissue paper, and the blade of a knife.
Detective Inspector Declan Boland told the court that he believed Hanlon had dumped the weapon, which hasn’t been found.
Ms Justice Siobhan Lankford declined an application for bail and adjourned the case until later this month.