In the Ashling Murphy murder trial, the suspect’s confession was described as “uninfluenced by drugs”.

A court has heard a confession from the alleged killer of Irish teacher Ashling Murphy, who was unaffected by the drugs he was given during his hospital stay.

Ms Murphy, 23, was killed while training on a canal path in Tullamore, Co Offaly, on January 12 last year. The killing shocked the country and sparked vigils around the world.

The jury at Dublin Central Criminal Court was told that father-of-five Jozef Puska, 33, dragged Ashling from the footbridge to some thick hedges where he stabbed her 12 times.

According to a pathologist, one of the wounds severed her vocal cords, rendering her unable to scream. Witnesses who allegedly interrupted Puska’s attack described him leaning over the teacher, whose legs were “waving loudly as if she were screaming for help.”

Prosecutors say she died around 3:30 that afternoon because her Fitbit recorded her heart rate “erratically,” just before recording stopped completely.

Last week the court heard that Puska, who denies the murder, admitted the killing while speaking to gardai in hospital through a Slovak interpreter.

Detective Garda Brian Jennings told the court he interviewed Puska at St James’s Hospital in Dublin on January 14.

Passing the interpreter’s translation, Mr Jennings said: ‘He paused and said he was making an official statement admitting he had committed the murder: ‘I did it.’ I killed. I’m the murderer.’

Pharmacology expert Professor Michael Ryan said the amount of medication in Puska’s body at the time would have had no effect on his mood or behavior.

The suspect was taken to hospital by ambulance on January 13.

He told jurors he had reviewed the medical records of the medications Puska had been given before the alleged admission.

Professor Ryan explained that he looked at what drugs were given, what possible effects they could have, how much was given and what the ‘half-life’ of the drugs was.

He said half-life is a measure of how long the drug stays in the body and that 50% of the substance is gone after one half-life.

Professor Ryan said Puska underwent laparoscopic, or keyhole, surgery on January 13, adding: “It is less serious than major surgery.”

The expert said Puska had been given morphine, but it was no longer in his system when he was admitted the next day around 6:30 p.m.

He said the morphine is essentially a painkiller that can also serve as an anesthetic.

Professor Ryan said Puska was also given the very strong opioid fentanyl and a “very short-acting anesthetic”.

He said Puska had also been given an antibiotic as part of standard infection prevention procedure, but added that this had had “absolutely” no impact on the vote.

Professor Ryan said these drugs were not active in his system at the time of the alleged withdrawal the following day.

He said Puska was awake shortly after the operation, the anesthesia had worn off and the drugs had been “completely eliminated” well before 6pm on January 14.

Professor Ryan said he had examined the notes from Puska’s observation in the tightly controlled post-operative environment.

He said patients, their vital signs and their pain are monitored very closely in this environment.

Professor Ryan said Puska was also given oxycodone and this was the only drug that could have potentially affected his mood and behaviour.

He said it is used for post-operative pain management and its side effects are well documented and known.

The expert agreed with Judge Tony Hunt when asked whether the drug was “essentially gone” after four half-lives.

Professor Ryan said the maximum amount of oxycodone in Puska’s system at 6pm before the alleged withdrawal was 8.25mg.

He pointed to a study conducted in “normal volunteers” outside of a postoperative setting that he said showed no effects on mood and behavior in people given less than 10 mg of oxycodone.

Professor Ryan told the court that the amount of oxycodone administered to Puska was “very clearly” at the lower end of the scale.

He also said paracetamol and ibuprofen had no effect on Puska’s behaviour.

The witness told the court there was “no evidence that his confession was drug related.”

Under cross-examination, Prof Ryan said he was not a clinical doctor and had no experience of treating patients on a ward.

Defending, Seoirse asked SO Dunlaing whether Prof Ryan had relied on Garda notes about her interactions with Puska, saying, among other things, that the defendant appeared distressed at one point and that an alarm had been activated.

Professor Ryan said he had not investigated the details of the Garda data and that this was not his area of ​​expertise.

Ms Lawlor asked the professor if he had ever heard of anyone confessing to murder with a dose of less than 10mg of Oxycontin.

Professor Ryan replied: “No.”

The trial continues on Wednesday.

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