Soft-spoken dreamer who killed his wife

IN the words of his mistress, he was “refined, gentle, a bit of a dreamer and someone who wouldn’t hurt a fly”.

But Eamonn Lillis – the soft-spoken Terenure man with an easygoing reputation – was last night also labelled a killer as he was found guilty of the manslaughter of his wife, Celine Cawley, following a dramatic trial at the Central Criminal Court.

The jury who sat through 14 days of evidence and argument before reaching the verdict faced an unenviable task. During the trial, they were offered alternative versions by the prosecution and defence of how Ms Cawley met her death at the family home at Rowan Hill, Windgate Road, on December 15, 2008.