Killer loses bid to quash conviction
Mr Justice Michael Peart yesterday dismissed his application to the High Court for a declaration under Article 40 of the Constitution that his detention in the Midlands Prison is unlawful and directing his release.
O’Reilly, aged 38, was convicted three years ago of the murder of his 30-year-old wife, Rachel, at their bungalow home at The Naul, Co Dublin in Oct 2004.
O’Reilly was convicted of murder and lost his appeal to the Court of Criminal Appeal against the conviction.
Judge Peart said that O’Reilly, according to an affidavit, had on Jul 12, served an application to have his conviction quashed.
O’Reilly told the court he had been unable to engage the services of a solicitor and was dealing with his application through the post while pursuing an application to be granted legal aid.
He wrote to the court claiming his detention was rendered unlawful by the fact he had more restricted access to the courts than other citizens and was disadvantaged by not being permitted to attend personally.
Judge Peart said Mr O’Reilly had been lawfully sentenced and until that sentence was quashed by a court of competent jurisdiction he must serve it. A custodial sentence necessitated limitations to freedom and a certain restriction of rights that would otherwise be available to someone not serving a sentence.
“One of those restrictions is one of which this applicant complains, namely that unlike other persons who are not in prison he may not simply walk into court and move an application or attend the Central Office to file papers.”
The judge said access to justice was not denied to him. It meant that for reasons that were self-explanatory and obvious, he had to go about accessing justice by a different route — initially through the post.
Judge Peart said the grounds put forward by Mr O’Reilly that his detention was unlawful had no possibility of success and he dismissed the application.
