Louth: Man's conviction for 2018 murder quashed by Court of Appeal

A man who has spent more than three years in jail serving a life sentence for the murder of a teenager, has had his conviction quashed on appeal. Aaron Connolly, of Willistown, Drumcar had pleaded not guilty to the murder of 18-year-old Cameron Reilly at Shamrock Hill, Dunleer, County Louth on 26 May 2018. He was convicted in December 2022. Reilly, a hospitality student, was found dead in a field. On Monday, the Court of Appeal found that the trial judge's charge to the jury lacked balance and in parts may have been seen as "advocacy" for the prosecution case. Mr Justice John Edwards said that "such were the stridency and emphasis" of comments made by Mr Justice Tony Hunt while he charged the jury, "there is a real possibility the jury could have perceived that he was personally convinced of the guilt of the accused and that implicitly he was pressing them to deliver a guilty verdict". While acknowledging that Mr Justice Hunt gave the jury "impeccable instructions as to the applicable legal principles" involved, Mr Justice Edwards said that some of the trial judge's comments were capable of being perceived as "disparaging" and "mocking" of the defence case. The trial jury heard tha