A Donegal woman facing a murder trial will face a charge of assaulting a Garda later this week.
Nikita Burns is in custody having been charged with the murder of Robert Wilkin, whose body was found off Sliabh Liag cliffs last summer.
Burns appeared before Ballyshannon District Court on Friday. Burns was brought to court by prison guards from the Dóchas Centre at Mountjoy Prison in Dublin.
Burns is charged with assaulting Garda Declan O’Brien at Ballyshannon Garda Station on August 23, 2023.
The charge is contrary to Section 2 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997.
Burns, a 22-year-old with an address at West End, Bundoran, faces a further charge relating to the same date.
She is charged that, also at Ballyshannon Garda Station, she did use or engage in threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with an intent to provoke a breach of the peace or was reckless as to whether a breach of the peace might have been occasioned.
The charge is contrary to Section 6 of the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act, 1994 as amended by Section 22 of the Intoxicating Liquor Act, 2008.
Garda John McLaughlin gave evidence of charging Burns at a previous court sitting. When charged, Burns replied: “I don’t remember.”
A solicitor for the accused told the court that a forensic psychologist’s report for his client is ‘in process’.
The solicitor also asked for disclosure of CCTV footage, noting that a disc previously supplied was blank.
Inspector Rosaleen Logue said there was no objection to an adjournment.
Directing disclosure to Burns’ legal team, Judge Monika Leech put the matter back until October 4, 2024.
Burns and a co-accused Alan Vial (38), of Drumanoo Head, Killybegs are accused of murdering Robert Wilkin at a place unknown within the State on June 25, 2023.
Over two hundred witnesses are involved in that case.
At the Central Criminal Court, Mr Justice Paul McDermott has fixed a date of January 13, 2025 for the trial, which is expected to last four weeks.