A 19-YEAR-OLD Romanian national appeared in court yesterday charged with robbing Conall Kerrigan who was later found dead beside Derry's walls.
Mr Kerrigan (25) from Claudy was found after going missing following a night out in the city last year.
Police at the time said that prior to his death he had been the victim of a robbery but were not linking the two events.
At a court sitting on Monday, Costica Munteanu, with an address at Maplewood Lawn, in Tallaght in Dublin, appeared charged with robbing Mr Kerrigan of his wallet on August 23, on the day he went missing.
The defendant, who has made full admissions, was also charged with two counts of theft of iPhones from young woman on August 22.
A police officer said he could connect the defendant to the charges.
Outlining the background to the case the court was told that following the initial disappearance of Mr Kerrigan police examined CCTV and saw two males robbing him.
Unable to identify the men police issued a press release and were contacted by Gardaí who helped identify the suspects.
On Saturday, Munteanu was seen in Belfast and was arrested, the court was told.
The officer said police believed that the defendant was part of an organised gang working in Derry and Belfast who targeted vulnerable people at night.
She said the defendant had no ties to this country and added that the other suspect wanted for questioning had already fled the country.
Mr Kerrigan, who was a keen GAA footballer, was last seen alive shortly after 3am on Sunday, August 23 - about half an hour after he was robbed.
He fell from the city walls and down into a gap between the walls and the loading bay of the Millennium Forum theatre.
He lay there for several hours before his body was found.
The police have stressed that they do not believe his death was the result of a crime.
Meanwhile, Munteanu, who was refused bail, was remanded in custody and will appear again on March 3.
