Jury to continue deliberations on second accused in Carrigaline murder trial

The jury reached a verdict against one of the two men on trial on Thursday

The jury requested more time to deliberate on Ricardo Hoey's case. Picture: Larry Cummins

Deliberations on the second man on trial for the murder of Matt O’Neill in Carrigaline will not resume until 11am on Monday, April 29 – 10 days after the commencement of their deliberations.

The six men and six women who started their deliberations on Friday, April 19, were out considering the evidence until 4.30pm on Thursday. They were sent home by Ms Justice Siobhán Lankford until Monday to continue then as other court business precludes the case continuing on Friday.

The jury reached a verdict against one of the two men on trial — finding Jordan Deasy not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter. This verdict was revealed at noon on Thursday by the jury.

The total amount of time spent deliberating now exceeds 17 hours, across five days.

Ms Justice Siobhán Lankford asked the jury — after the verdict on Jordan Deasy — if they had reached a point where no further time would be of benefit in considering a verdict on the other accused, Ricardo Hoey. 

They indicated that they would like more time to deliberate on Mr Hoey’s case and immediately returned to their jury room to continue in this regard. They requested more time again at the end of the day.

21-year-old Ricardo Hoey of 7 Ardcarrig, Carrigaline, County Cork, and 19-year-old Jordan Deasy of 41 Ravensdale, Heron's Wood, both pleaded not guilty to the single charge against them, namely that on December 28, 2022, at Glenwood estate, Carrigaline, County Cork, they did murder 29-year-old Matt O’Neill, contrary to common law.

Ms Justice Lankford told the jury as they commenced their deliberations on April 19 that they should approach the case as effectively being two separate trials and that in each one there were three possible verdicts open to them: guilty of murder, guilty of manslaughter or not guilty.

Now the six men and six women have made their decision in respect of Jordan Deasy, finding him guilty of manslaughter but not guilty of murder. They will turn their attention again to Ricardo Hoey on Monday and try to reach a verdict in his case.