Mother appears in court charged with the murder of her son, six, after he was found dead in a car by seaside cove

• Ruth Purcell Healy, 37, appeared at Waterford District Court on Tuesday
• She was charged with the murder of Matthew Healy on February 8 or 9

A mother appeared before Waterford District Court late last night charged with the murder of her six-year-old son.

Ruth Purcell Healy, 37, of Bishopsfield, Williamstown, Waterford city, was brought before a special sitting of the court, presided over by Judge Kevin Staunton, at around 9pm.

She was charged shortly after 6.35pm with the murder of her son, Matthew Healy.

The schoolboy was found dead in the back of a car in the Rathmoylan area of Dunmore East, Co. Waterford, on February 9.

Frantic efforts were made to save his life, but paramedics were unable to revive him. They took the six-year-old to University Hospital Waterford where he was later pronounced dead.

Matthew Healy (pictured) was found in a car near a seaside cove in the Rathmoylan area in the early hours of Friday.

A vigil for Matthew was held at the cathedral in Waterford and was led by Alphonsus Cullinan, Bishop of Waterford and Lismore (pictured)

In his evidence, Detective Sergeant David Shore said the accused was invited to reply to the charge put before her, to which she replied: ‘No thank you.’

The accused has been remanded in custody in Limerick Prison until her next court appearance, via videolink on Tuesday of next week, February 20.

Judge Staunton directed that a psychiatric evaluation take place, following a request from defence solicitor Ken Cunningham. In addition, he directed that the accused receive any medical attention deemed necessary.

An application for High Court bail is expected to be made within the next 14 days.

Meanwhile, gardaí have urged the public not to fall for scams offering live-streams of Matthew’s funeral. The ceremony is taking place today at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in the rural parish of Watergrasshill, Co. Cork.

Despite it being confirmed the funeral will not be broadcast online, fraudsters are attempting to capitalise on last week’s tragedy by seeking credit card details to view the Mass online.

In a statement, An Garda Síochána said: ‘We are aware of posts circulating on social media which advertise the live streaming of the funeral Mass of a recently deceased boy due to take place in the parish of Watergrasshill and Glenville, Co. Cork. The post includes a link which users are prompted to click on in order to watch the Mass, and are then redirected to a web page that captures their personal information. Please do not engage with these posts.

Many people attended the vigil for Matthew, including emergency medical staff

‘Anyone who wishes to watch a funeral Mass via live stream are asked to please revert to the parish or diocese directly.’

It’s not known how many people, if any, fell victim to the Mass-viewing scam but similar attempts to generate profits from streaming funerals have caused significant concern in recent months.

The Irish Daily Mail previously reported similar scams that sought to exploit the funerals of Katie Graham, 19, Daryl Culbert, 21, and Michael Kelly, 25, who were killed in a road accident in Co. Carlow two weeks ago.

Matthew’s heartbroken father James and his extended family will say their goodbyes today. The chief celebrant for this afternoon’s service is Fr Christy Fitzgerald, who is preparing the funeral liturgy. Following this, a private service will be held at The Island Crematorium in Ringaskiddy, Co. Cork.

Matthew’s death notice reads that he is ‘sadly missed by his heartbroken dad James, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and extended family, neighbours and friends’. It expresses their wish that the youngster will ‘fly with the angels’.

Matthew attended Faithlegg National School in Cheekpoint, Co. Waterford.

Park Rangers AFC, the football club where he played with the under-seven squad, posted a tribute online, saying: ‘Our thoughts are with his loved ones at this unimaginably difficult time.’

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