O’Reilly murder conviction appeal to proceed next week

THE appeal by Joe O’Reilly against his conviction for the murder of his wife, Rachel, will be heard by the Court of Criminal Appeal (CCA) next Thursday.

Yesterday at the CCA, it was confirmed that O’Reilly’s appeal will go ahead as scheduled as both O’Reilly’s and the DPP’s legal team are ready to proceed.

The CCA had previously fixed Thursday, December 18 next, as the date of the appeal, to be heard over one day before the three-judge court. The CCA was also informed that the appeal would take between two-and-a-half to three hours to be heard.

O’Reilly was not in court when his case was briefly mentioned before Ms Justice Fidelma Macken at the CCA. The case will be heard by Chief Justice John Murray, sitting with Mr Justice Roderick Murphy and Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy.

O’Reilly, aged 35, of Lambay View, Baldarragh, The Naul, was convicted unanimously by a jury at the Central Criminal Court in July 2007 of the murder of his 30-year-old wife at their home on October 4, 2004.

O’Reilly, who denied the charge, was jailed for life by Mr Justice Barry White.

He lodged an appeal against conviction and sentence in August 2007, arguing the conduct of the trial was unsatisfactory on several grounds and his conviction was therefore “unsafe”.

It is believed O’Reilly will contend the evidence against him was insufficient to allow any more than a suspicion of guilt and that the trial judge should have directed the jury to enter a not guilty verdict.

O’Reilly’s grounds of appeal were lodged with the CCA last year and include arguments that evidence of mobile phone records and data relating to the location of O’Reilly’s mobile phone on the date of his wife’s murder should not have been permitted by the trial judge to be presented before the jury.