O'Reilly's friend's phone records analysed

Phone analysis places the mobile of Joe O'Reilly's co-worker in the vicinity of the Broadstone bus garage on the morning of the murder and is consistent with the account he gave gardaí.

Electronic engineer, Oliver Farrell, who works with the engineering consultancy Vilicom, took to the stand for the second again today to give evidence of the analysis of Derek Quearney's mobile phone.

Mr Quearney worked with Mr O'Reilly in the outdoor advertising company Viacom, based in the Bluebell Industrial Estate.

The court has already heard how Mr O'Reilly told gardaí he was also inspecting posters in the Broadstone bus garage with Mr Quearney on the morning of the murder.

Communications expert Mr Farrell was giving evidence on the 12th day of the Central Criminal Court trial of Mr O'Reilly (aged 35), of Lambay View, Baldarragh, Naul, Co Dublin who has pleaded not guilty to murdering his wife and mother of their two children, Rachel O'Reilly, (aged 30), at the family home on October 4, 2004.

Mr Farrell told prosecution counsel Mr Dominic McGinn BL, that he received Mr Quearney's mobile phone records from 02 and analysed them to show phone traffic on his mobile for the morning of the murder.

He said the first call at 7.30am routed through Nangor Road mast, close to Riverview Business Park and encompassing the Park West area, means the mobile phone analysis is in keeping with Mr Quearney meeting Mr O'Reilly in this area.

Analysis of Mr O'Reilly's phone showed his mobile was routed through the same transmitter 'within five minutes' of Mr Quearney's phone.

He then analysed 7 calls between 8.37 to 9.00am. The first three are routed through the Killeen Road, ESB mast which covers the Bluebell Industrial Estate and are therefore consistent with him being at work in Viacom.

The following four calls are picked up by a mast in the Chapelizod area, north of Blubell. He said this means this also corresponds with Mr Quearney being in work in Bluebell Industrial Estate and then travelling towards the Broadstone Bus Garage.

He said the next call at 9.25am is picked up by a mast in Dominick Street in the North inner city and that it covers the Broadstone bus garage. A further three calls are routed through masts at North King St. and the Bridewell.

While the next call at 10.59am is picked up by a mast on Harcourt St in the south inner city, he explained it could still be possible for the phone to be in the vicinity of the Broadstone bus garage, as the Harcourt St mast is very high and has an extended area of coverage.

He said the following four calls up until 11.45am are consistent with Mr Quearney making the return journey from the Broadstone garage towards the Bluebell Industrial estate.

Mr McGinn then asked him to compare analysis of both phones in relation to the Broadstone bus garage. He said the first time Mr O'Reilly's phone was routed through a mast near Broadstone is 10.38am and that Mr Quearney's phone is first used in that area is over an hour earlier at 09:25am.

Under cross-examination by defence counsel Mr Patrick Gageby SC, Mr Farrell agreed his analysis was reliant on the accuracy of the information given to him.

Mr Farrell insisted it would be possible for the mast in Harcourt St to pick up the signal from Mr Quearney's phone in the Broadstone bus garage.

However, he agreed it is possible for masts to have a broader area of coverage area than they do in theory.

He also explained that when the nearest mobile phone transmitter is too busy or has a weakened signal due to an obstacle, the signal from the handset will be re-routed through the next strongest signal it can find.

When asked by Mr McGinn whether it would be possible for a signal from a phone in Murpy's Quarry to be re-routed through a transmitter in the Murphy's Quarry mast, he said: "no it would not."

A number of garda witnesses, including Deputy Commissioner Martin Callinan, then gave evidence of the various necessary procedures they were required to carry out in order to obtain the phone records from 02 Ireland.

Then two more garda witnesses showed the jury maps and photographs of the relevant mobile phone masts.

Det Gda Liam Lynham pointed out a road which connects the quarry to the O'Reilly household.