Aaron Connolly

The Central Criminal Court jury of seven women and five men returned their verdict this afternoon on what was their third day of deliberations in the case.

Mr Bowman told the jury: "The law says the mere fact that the defendant lies is not evidence enough. He said people had lied about drug and alcohol use in a murder trial because they were afraid. He said lies are the subject of “grey areas” but science tells the truth. The murder trial also heard evidence from Jack Conway, who said he and Aaron Connolly had sexual relations on a number of occasions when they were teenagers. “All of these features are in keeping with the application of external pressure on the neck. The group then went to a local takeaway to get food shortly after midnight before moving away at 12.40am.

Aaron Connolly (22) of Willistown, Drumcar had denied murdering the teenager in 2018.

Mr. The court heard that Mr. Reilly and Mr.

Irish soldier killed in Lebanon named as Private Seán Rooney (23). A member of Óglaigh na hÉireann, the Irish Defence Forces, was killed while carrying out UN ...

The court heard she was pregnant at the time of her hearing. [young mother](https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/young-mother-found-with-tesco-bag-containing-e240000-in-drugs-again-avoids-jail-1406387.html) who admitted having a shopping bag containing over €240,000 in drugs has again avoided jail, even after the Court of Appeal found that her original fully-suspended sentence was too lenient. [murder of Cameron Reilly](https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/aaron-connolly-guilty-of-murder-of-student-cameron-reilly-in-co-louth-1406351.html), the teenager who was found dead in a field in Dunleer, County Louth in May 2018. Kirsty Cummins was a teenager when she was found with a Tesco bag containing over €240,000 worth of cocaine and heroin and received a fully suspended four-year sentence in June 2021 at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. The Central Criminal Court jury of seven women and five men returned a unanimous verdict on Thursday afternoon on what was their third day of deliberations in the case. [ Seán Rooney](https://www.breakingnews.ie/ireland/member-of-irish-defence-forces-killed-in-lebanon-1405993.html) (23), from Newtowncunningham, Co Donegal, was involved in a "serious incident" at approximately 9.15pm Irish time, when two-vehicle convoy carrying members of the 121st Infantry Battalion — United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon, or UNIFIL — came under "small arms fire" in al-Aqbieh, southern Lebanon.

The teenager's body was found in a field in Dunleer, County Louth, in May 2018.

He said people had lied about drug and alcohol use in a murder trial because they were afraid. The murder trial also heard evidence from Jack Conway, who said he and Aaron Connolly had sexual relations on a number of occasions when they were teenagers. In his garda interviews, Connolly said he could not remember what he was doing during a “missing hour” on the night Cameron Reilly died violently as he had taken a combination of drugs that made him black out. This was the cause of death,” she said. Counsel for the defence, Michael Bowman SC, made a proof by formal admission to the court on behalf of Aaron Connolly. State Pathologist Linda Mulligan told the jury Mr Reilly’s cause of death was asphyxia due to external pressure on the neck with no other contributing factors.

'Constant fox-like evolution' of lies told by Connolly were picked apart methodically until 'rationality, reason and intelligence' permitted only one ...

The young man said he and Connolly were again intimate when they met in a field “a while after”. The witness also said the DNA of Mr Reilly and Connolly was present on the hooded top and outer tracksuit bottoms of Connolly. The reason I don’t remember is I was taking drugs.” He told gardaí he had taken 2g of cocaine and half a gram of MDMA and said this would sometimes cause him to “blackout”. She said an examination of the inside front of the tracksuit bottoms worn by Connolly showed a mixed DNA sample of Mr Reilly and Connolly. He said Connolly performed oral sex on Mr Reilly and when he left Mr Reilly was still alive and standing up. In his initial statement to gardaí, Connolly said he had been drunk on the night but “knew what I was at”. She said on the night of May 25th Mr Reilly was keen to break away and this was “out of character for him” because he would normally be “the last man standing”. Mr Bowman asked Mr O’Flaherty to confirm that the letter was written by someone who said they had overheard “a young girl and a young lad” talking in the pub saying they saw Mr Reilly being killed. He said the teenager was lying on his back and there was “discolouring and bruising” on the right-hand side of the face, neck and throat. He said it was the prosecution’s case that at some point between 12.40am and 1.40am on May 26th, Connolly intentionally brought about the death of the teenager. There were “a lot of scrape marks” on the front of the neck and the deceased’s hands were “very white and clean”. She said Mr Reilly had come out to her about two months earlier and said he had been bisexual for a while, but she was unaware if he had had any relationships with men.

DKIT student Cameron Reilly had been out socialising with friends on the night of May 25th, 2018 at a field just outside the town.

Mr Bowman told the jury: "The law says the mere fact that the defendant lies is not evidence enough. He said people had lied about drug and alcohol use in a murder trial because they were afraid. He said lies are the subject of “grey areas” but science tells the truth. This was the cause of death,” she said. The group then went to a local takeaway to get food shortly after midnight before moving away at 12.40am. Friends of Mr Reilly told the trial a group of around 15 young people gathered in the field on the night and alcohol and cannabis were consumed.

Aaron Connolly, of Willistown, Drumcar, Co Louth had pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr Reilly, 18, at Shamrock Hill, Dunleer on May 26, 2018. Advertisement.

Mr Bowman told the jury: "The law says the mere fact that the defendant lies is not evidence enough. He said people had lied about drug and alcohol use in a murder trial because they were afraid. He said lies are the subject of “grey areas” but science tells the truth. This was the cause of death." Friends of Mr Reilly told the trial a group of around 15 young people gathered in the field on the night and alcohol and Friends of Mr Reilly gave evidence to the trial that the teenager had confided in them that he was bisexual shortly before his death.