African translator gives evidence in murder trial

Updated / Tuesday, 3 Nov 2026 14:13

A translator of the African language 'Hausa' has given evidence in the trial of a man accused of murdering a pensioner in Co Tipperary two years ago.

Hasan Ali Gori, originally from Chad, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Josephine ‘Josie’ Ray in the bedroom of her home in Nenagh on 4 August 2024.

The jury at the Central Criminal Court heard evidence last week that Mr Gori told Josie Ray’s daughter to "murder her".

The alleged comment was heard on audio recorded on the accused's phone on the night before the alleged killing.

The accused was living in the home of the 89-year-old in St Joseph's Park, Nenagh, as he was in a relationship with her daughter, Mary Ray, who has an intellectual disability.

The jury of nine men and three women was played extracts of an audio recording found on the phone of Mr Gori during the murder investigation.

Three-and-a-half hours of audio was recorded on a voice memo on the phone from around 8pm until 11.30pm, the night before Josie Ray was found suffocated and strangled in her bed.

The jury was also shown a video recording of Mr Gori being questioned about the murder at Nenagh Garda Station in July 2025.

The audio recording of him and Mary Ray arguing was played to him during the garda interview.

The accused can be heard telling Mary that to resolve their living arrangements, they should go to court.

"Only in court, we going to end this matter," he said.

Mary can be heard saying, "No, no, can't say nothing to my mother".

The prosecution allege that his response was, "murder her".

The jury was shown the video recording of Mr Gori listening to the clip repeatedly and telling gardaí that he did not say "murder her". During the interview, he denied that he said "murder her" and insisted that he said, "murder ba".

Gardaí asked the defendant what "ba" means and Mr Gori said there is no "ba" in English. He told gardaí that it was his language.

The jury heard evidence today from Ibrahim Abdullah Mohammed who works as a translator in court.

He said Hausa is a language spoken along the West African coast.

He said he had listened to the audio recording. "What I clearly heard was ‘murder ba'," he said.

The translator told the court that ‘ba’ is a commonly used word in Nigeria and West Africa.

He said it is a word used when someone says something unexpected or surprising and it means ‘really?’ or ‘is that so?’.

The jury was told that words from the Hausa language are interwoven by speakers of the language when talking in English.

The trial continues.