Joe O’Reilly calm as judgment postponed for another day

A NEWSPAPER splashed with a picture of himself and the headline “Judgment Day” lay on the green carpet floor beside Joe O’Reilly in a courtroom packed full of people waiting to hear his fate.

But it was not to be. O’Reilly and the many onlookers in court number 2 will be forced to wait yet another day for the judgment on whether or not he is guilty of bludgeoning his wife, Rachel O’Reilly, to death in the family home almost three years ago.

Mr Justice Barry White had set 7pm as a cut off point for the jury to reach a verdict, before sending the nine men and two women to a hotel for the night. As they discussed the issues behind closed doors, a gathering of journalists, legal representatives, O’Reilly’s family and that of his deceased wife Rachel, waited anxiously for word.