Ryan Bradley acquitted as father and brothers remain on trial for murder

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Ryan Bradley was acquitted by direction of the judge on 9 July 2018, while his father Paul Bradley and brothers Jason Bradley and Dean Bradley remained on trial for the murder of Neil Reilly. The proceedings were reported on 9 July 2018.

Paul Bradley, Jason Bradley and Dean Bradley pleaded not guilty to murdering Mr Reilly at Esker Glebe in Lucan on 18 January 2017. Mr Justice Paul Coffey told the jury that the three cases must be considered separately.

The judge said Jason Bradley accepted inflicting seven fatal chop wounds on Mr Reilly and owed him more than €9,000 for a drug debt. He directed that, if Jason had been provoked into losing all self-control, the jury must find him guilty of manslaughter rather than murder. Jurors had to consider that Mr Reilly had fired two potentially lethal shots at the Bradley home, as well as the background, the chase and the short time between the shooting and assault.

Dean Bradley admitted driving a BMW that struck and went over Mr Reilly. A pathologist said a crushed pelvis consistent with being run over contributed to the death. The prosecution alleged Dean drove over him deliberately more than once; the defence said it was an accident, that he went over him once, and that he had poor eyesight and Mr Reilly was lying in the road when he arrived at speed.

Paul Bradley admitted following Mr Reilly's car with Jason as his passenger and kicking Mr Reilly after the car crashed. The judge said the prosecution alleged Paul had participated in a joint enterprise with Jason, though he had not directly caused the death. The jury was due to begin considering its verdict on Tuesday.