2018-07-30 ยท Offaly
Witnesses allegedly threatened with "bullet"
Stephen O'Reilly, aged 30, was convicted of two assaults, two counts of criminal damage and two counts of producing an article at his neighbour's address on 7 May 2016. He was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment, with the final two years suspended, by Judge Keenan Johnson at Tullamore Circuit Criminal Court on 8 February 2017. O'Reilly appealed his conviction, but the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal. The Court held that Section 16 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006, which allows admission of statements where a witness denies making the statement or gives evidence inconsistent with the statement, was "specifically designed for this type of situation". The Court found no error in the trial judge's decision to admit the witnesses' initial statements under Section 16, and therefore upheld the conviction. The case involved witnesses who had withdrawn their statements after the incident, and the Court considered issues of reliability, fairness, and the interests of justice in its decision.