Joe O’Reilly refused bid for further appeal

The Supreme Court has refused to permit convicted murderer Joe O’Reilly a further appeal over his conviction for the murder of his wife Rachel.

O’Reilly had sought leave to appeal the Court of Appeal’s dismissal of his miscarriage of justice bid as an “abuse of process” on the basis of that court’s finding it was bound to fail and not grounded on any new, or newly discovered, fact.

O’Reilly was found guilty in 2007 by a jury at the Central Criminal Court of the murder of his wife at their home in the Naul, Co Dublin, on October 4, 2004. He was jailed for life. Ms O’Reilly’s badly beaten body was found in the bedroom of her home by her mother.