0:00

You're listening to the mens rea podcast

0:02

and this is the story of

0:05

Daniel MacDonald

0:31

In the early

0:34

hours of Friday February the 2nd 2007, Arklow

0:36

man Eddie McElheran was heading home

0:45

after a night out in the town when he heard

0:47

a loud bang.

0:49

He turned to see what the source of the noise was

0:51

and he noticed a red Honda Civic in

0:53

the middle of the road which looked like it had been in

0:56

a head-on collision. A short

0:58

distance away he could see a man lying on

1:00

the road

1:01

and McElheran who was trained

1:03

in first aid went to see if he could help.

1:06

The wounded man was 21 year

1:08

old Daniel MacDonald. The Arklow

1:10

native was a plasterer by trade and was

1:12

said to be a very nice guy by all who knew

1:15

him.

1:15

Daniel enjoyed life and was known for

1:17

being the life and soul of the party, loving

1:20

nothing more than socialising with friends and

1:22

belting out his favourite songs and karaoke.

1:25

Along with his love of fun and mischief, Daniel

1:28

was sports mad and he played football

1:30

for local team Arklow Celtic

1:32

while also maintaining a strict bodybuilding

1:35

and weight training regime.

1:37

When Eddie McElheran reached him, Daniel

1:40

was bleeding heavily from the mouth and seemed

1:42

to be choking on the blood.

1:44

McElheran crouched down beside the young

1:46

man asking if he could hear him and

1:49

pinching his ear to see if he could rouse a reaction,

1:52

however there was no response from Daniel.

1:55

By this time a crowd had started to gather

1:57

at the scene and a number of the onlookers were becoming

1:59

aware. hysterical. One woman

2:02

shouted that Daniel was her cousin so

2:04

Mackelheron called her over, asking

2:06

her to hold Daniel's hand and to

2:08

speak to him, which she did. A

2:11

number of people who had witnessed the incident

2:13

had called the emergency services and

2:15

when Gardee arrived a few minutes later

2:18

they found a chaotic scene surrounding

2:20

the gravely injured man.

2:22

The officers gave Eddie Mackelheron

2:24

a rubber glove so that he could try and clear

2:27

Daniel's airway but it was of no use

2:29

and as an ambulance arrived on scene

2:31

Daniel had stopped breathing.

2:34

Daniel was then rushed to St. Columb

2:36

Kill's Hospital in Loughlin's Town Dublin

2:39

where doctors attempted to resuscitate him.

2:42

Back in Arklow news of the crash spread

2:44

quickly and as the hours wore on

2:46

a large number of Daniel's family and friends

2:49

began to arrive at the hospital waiting

2:51

anxiously for an update on his condition.

2:54

Unfortunately at 6am they were

2:56

told that despite the best efforts of the medical

2:59

personnel, Daniel had passed

3:01

away.

3:02

As medics battled to save Daniel

3:05

McDonald's life another young man, 21 year

3:07

old Anthony O'Reilly, presented himself

3:10

at Arklow Garda station

3:12

claiming the three men had beaten him up in

3:14

the town. O'Reilly who

3:16

was from Bally Fermat in Dublin was

3:18

drunk and extremely agitated

3:21

as he spoke to Sergeant Thomas Finnerty

3:23

demanding that Gardee do something

3:25

about the men who had allegedly assaulted him.

3:28

He became increasingly hostile as he

3:30

stood in the foyer at the station

3:33

and splashed blood from a gash above

3:35

his eye at the sergeant while he insisted

3:37

that photographs be taken of his injuries.

3:40

Anthony O'Reilly was arrested

3:42

for disorderly conduct and was placed

3:44

in a cell just as Sergeant Finnerty

3:47

received a call about the incident on Lower

3:49

Main Street. Writing for

3:51

the Irish examiner Nicola Boyles reported

3:53

that when O'Reilly heard that the sergeant was

3:56

leaving to attend an accident scene he

3:58

had said

3:59

for him to die. I was driving the car

4:02

that hit him. He fucked up messing with me.

4:04

Fuck him anyway."

4:06

While in custody, a urine sample was

4:08

taken from O'Reilly for analysis, and

4:10

when he spoke to Sergeant Finnerty later on

4:13

the Friday morning, he asked him how Daniel

4:15

MacDonald was. On hearing

4:17

that the young plasterer was dead,

4:19

O'Reilly asked the sergeant, quote, What

4:21

am I going to do?

4:23

O'Reilly was released from custody,

4:25

but was arrested later that morning for dangerous

4:28

driving, and in response, said

4:30

that he was very sorry.

4:33

Gardee set about questioning witnesses

4:36

and examining the scene where Daniel MacDonald

4:38

had been found injured. Although

4:40

Thursday night was generally quiet in

4:42

Arclo Town, it was believed that around 40 people

4:45

may have been in the immediate vicinity of the crash

4:48

when it happened.

4:49

The area was sealed off and the Garda

4:52

Technical Bureau was called to the scene to

4:54

examine the crash site. Early

4:56

eyewitness reports indicated that the 1993 registered

4:59

red Honda Civic had hit Daniel

5:02

MacDonald on the road before mounting a curb

5:04

and ploughing through a steel bollard. The

5:07

car then travelled a further 15 metres,

5:10

damaging a number of shop fronts before finally

5:13

coming to a stop close to the Bridge Street

5:15

corner of Lower Main Street.

5:17

The crash caused extensive damage

5:19

to the car smashing the windscreen, denting

5:22

the roof, and tearing off the front bumper.

5:25

The steel bollard was still wedged under

5:27

the front of the motor, and traces of red

5:29

paint from the body of the vehicle could be seen

5:32

on the wall of Barron's Men's Wear shop, where

5:34

the car had scraped it.

5:36

One shop window had been broken, and

5:38

another had its door damaged.

5:41

The scale of the scene meant that the forensic

5:43

examination was labour intensive, and

5:46

because of this, the wrecked car remained

5:48

on site for almost 24 hours,

5:51

as technical officers conducted their investigation.

5:54

Once this had concluded, officers

5:56

from the Garda traffic corps were brought in to

5:58

examine dozens of

5:59

forensic markers to try and

6:02

build a clear idea of the sequence of events

6:04

that had led to Daniel's death.

6:07

Deputy State Pathologist Michael Curtis

6:09

also attended the scene to help Garde

6:12

with their inquiries. A

6:14

post-mortem found that Daniel had suffered

6:17

a number of cuts and abrasions over his body.

6:20

However, the main injuries found were a

6:22

9cm x 4cm fracture

6:24

to his skull,

6:25

along with fractures to five of his

6:28

ribs and bruising to his lungs.

6:30

This led Dr. Curtis to give a cause

6:32

of death as vehicular trauma to the head

6:34

and chest. He reported that

6:36

Daniel's head injuries were so severe that his

6:39

brain had been torn. At

6:41

the time of his death, his blood alcohol

6:43

level was found to be 144,

6:45

which Dr. Curtis surmised would have left

6:47

the young man mildly intoxicated.

6:50

Officers on the ground in Arclo continued

6:53

to interview witnesses appealing for any

6:55

late-night drinkers who may have seen something

6:58

to come forward.

6:59

CCTV from nearby businesses

7:01

was also being examined, and

7:04

as Garde pieced together the various eyewitness

7:06

accounts and forensic evidence, a

7:08

definite picture began to emerge.

7:11

According to reports, Daniel McDonald

7:14

had gone for a few drinks on Thursday evening

7:16

with a group of friends.

7:17

Their night out culminated in the early

7:19

hours of Friday morning in Rascals on

7:22

Main Street.

7:23

The premises consisted of a bar on the

7:25

ground floor with a recently refurbished

7:28

nightclub on the first floor of the building,

7:30

and it was here on the dance floor that Daniel's

7:33

path crossed with Anthony O'Reilly.

7:36

Friends of Daniel's told Garde that there

7:38

had been a verbal altercation between the pair,

7:41

which resulted in both Daniel McDonald

7:43

and Anthony O'Reilly being kicked out of the

7:45

nightclub by security staff at

7:47

around 10-2 in the morning.

7:50

The men were in a state of agitation and

7:52

the fight continued on the street outside

7:54

where O'Reilly was heard threatening to kill

7:56

Daniel. O'Reilly

7:57

was then seen jumping into the front past

7:59

seat of a parked car owned

8:02

by a local woman named Jenny Tobin

8:04

who was sitting in the car with her friend Samantha Earls.

8:07

Tobin told Garde that O'Reilly had demanded

8:10

that she drive and as the car took

8:12

off Daniel McDonald's leg came through

8:14

the open passenger window at O'Reilly.

8:18

With his leg stuck in the window as the car moved

8:20

Daniel grabbed the car's roof for leverage

8:23

and eventually managed to free himself.

8:26

O'Reilly then insisted that Tobin

8:28

drive him to another friend's house who he knew owned

8:30

a shotgun. As the trio

8:33

came back through Main Street O'Reilly spotted

8:35

Daniel again and grabbed the steering

8:37

wheel from Samantha Tobin causing

8:40

the car to swerve towards McDonald.

8:43

Tobin got back control of the car and

8:45

began to head away but then O'Reilly

8:47

saw a friend driving his red Honda

8:50

Civic so he jumped out of Samantha's

8:52

car and got into his own. O'Reilly

8:54

then drove to the bottom of the town

8:56

giving Daniel and his friends the finger as he

8:58

sped past them. When O'Reilly

9:01

reached the end of the road his car was seen

9:03

turning and then tearing back up towards

9:05

the group.

9:06

It was then that Daniel McDonald stepped

9:08

out onto the road gesticulating

9:10

at O'Reilly with his hands as if to say come

9:13

on and with that O'Reilly's

9:15

car had revved up and swerved towards

9:18

Daniel hitting the young man so hard

9:20

that he was thrown high into the air.

9:22

The red Honda Civic sped on and

9:24

mounted the pavement hit the shop fronts

9:27

and careened over to the side of the

9:29

road. When he came to a stop O'Reilly

9:31

got out and ran back to Jenny Tobin's

9:33

car telling her that he had just killed someone

9:36

and demanded that she take him to the Garda

9:38

station. On

9:40

Monday the 5th of February 2007 Daniel

9:44

McDonald was laid to rest under clear

9:46

blue skies.

9:47

His funeral was one of the largest that the town

9:50

of Arclough had seen in recent years.

9:52

His devastated family and friends flocked

9:54

into the church of Saints Mary and Peter

9:56

in Arclough unable to comprehend the fact

9:59

that the

9:59

they all knew and loved who had been so full

10:02

of life just before the weekend, was

10:04

now gone.

10:06

The crowd was so large that every

10:08

seat in the church was taken, and

10:10

mourners spilled out the door onto

10:12

the path outside.

10:14

As one of four siblings, his loss

10:16

had left a gaping hole for his older sister

10:18

and two younger brothers, who were just seven

10:21

and nine years old at the time of his death.

10:23

According to an article on Daniel's Life

10:25

which was published in The Irish Independent, the

10:28

boys had idolised their big brother,

10:30

often wanting to dress in the same style as

10:32

him and emulate him.

10:34

Daniel's girlfriend of three years was

10:36

also heartbroken by his loss.

10:39

Daniel's passion and talent for

10:41

sport was symbolised during the funeral mass

10:44

with a pair of his boxing gloves, a

10:46

football and a dumbbell weight being displayed

10:48

as some of the defining elements of his

10:50

short life.

10:52

Daniel's love of Manchester United

10:54

and Glasgow Celtic Football Club were

10:56

also represented, with both club

10:59

jerseys draped over his coffin as

11:01

it sat at the altar of the church, surrounded

11:04

by floral tributes that spelled out

11:06

who the young man was to his family,

11:09

son,

11:10

brother, cousin.

11:12

Throughout

11:12

the day, groups of Daniel's friends

11:14

took it in turn to act as pallbearers,

11:17

carrying his coffin through the stages

11:19

of the funeral until eventually it was

11:22

led by a lone piper into St Gabriel's

11:24

Cemetery.

11:25

His favourite song, which was Patience

11:28

by Guns N' Roses, was played as

11:30

he was lowered into the ground and 21 white

11:33

dubs were released to mark each

11:35

year of his short life.

11:48

This episode is sponsored by our good

11:50

friends over at HelloFresh. HelloFresh

11:53

is America's number one meal kit, delivering

11:55

you fresh pre-portioned ingredients and

11:58

easy to follow recipes so you can you can have quick

12:00

and delicious home-cooked meals in a snap.

12:03

With HelloFresh, you pick the meals that look good

12:05

to you and avoid searching shops for the ingredients

12:07

you need, time wasted waiting in lines

12:10

and food waste, because they only send you

12:12

what you need. It's all delivered right to your

12:14

door, so it couldn't be easier to have home-cooked

12:17

meals. Figuring out what's for dinner is

12:19

not at the top of anyone's summer activity wishlist.

12:22

I know that whenever the sun chooses to shine, I

12:24

much prefer to have a cold summer beverage in

12:26

hand than to be worrying about getting the dinner ready.

12:28

Also, HelloFresh Market

12:29

has new snacks, meals, and more to

12:32

add onto your weekly order, like their fun

12:34

S'mores Bundle. It says here that it's for

12:36

kids, but I think that's a misprint. It should

12:39

say for Sinead. I'm delighted to say

12:41

that right now, HelloFresh is offering mens

12:43

rea listeners an amazing deal. Head to hellofresh.com

12:46

slash mensrea16 and

12:48

use the code mensrea16 for 16 free meals plus

12:52

free shipping. There's a reason why

12:54

HelloFresh is America's number one

12:56

meal kit, so give it a try. Head

12:59

to hellofresh.com

12:59

slash mensrea16 and

13:02

use the code mensrea16 for 16 free meals shipped

13:06

free right to your door.

13:11

On the 31st of May, 2007, Anthony O'Reilly appeared

13:15

before Bridewell District Court, where

13:18

he was charged with the murder of Daniel McDonald.

13:21

He was remanded in custody, but

13:23

was later granted bail of 3,000 euro

13:25

in the high court on the condition that

13:27

he sign on with Gardea every day.

13:31

Just short of a year later, on the 8th of April, 2008,

13:36

O'Reilly's trial commenced before Mr.

13:38

Justice Kevin O'Higgins, where a jury

13:40

of six men and six women were sworn

13:43

in.

13:44

The court proceedings received extensive

13:46

coverage in the Irish Independent, where

13:48

it was reported that O'Reilly pleaded

13:51

not guilty to murdering Daniel McDonald,

13:53

not guilty to dangerous driving causing

13:56

the death of Daniel McDonald, and

13:58

not guilty to intent.

13:59

intentionally or recklessly grabbing the

14:02

steering wheel of Jenny Tobin's car,

14:04

causing it to swerve in the direction of

14:06

Daniel McDonald.

14:08

In his opening statement to the court, Mr.

14:11

Patrick Maranen, Senior Counsel for the

14:13

State, said that O'Reilly had driven

14:15

to Arklow with friends and gone to Rascal's

14:18

nightclub, where he got into some,

14:20

quote, rg-bargy with

14:22

Daniel McDonald.

14:24

Upon being ejected from the club by

14:26

security staff, the men continued to

14:28

fight, and O'Reilly threatened to kill

14:30

McDonald.

14:31

Mr. Maranen outlined how O'Reilly

14:33

had gotten into Samantha Tobin's car, sitting

14:36

on top of her passenger, before instructing

14:38

Tobin to drive.

14:40

Almost simultaneously, Daniel

14:42

McDonald had tried to come after the accused

14:44

through the open passenger window and

14:47

kicked out at him.

14:48

The Senior Counsel continued, quote, You

14:50

will hear evidence of the quite amazing picture

14:53

of Daniel McDonald hanging on for

14:55

dear life with his right foot inside

14:57

the car as he was hanging onto the roof.

15:00

After McDonald had broken free from the car,

15:03

Jenny Tobin drove off with her

15:05

passenger and Anthony O'Reilly in the car,

15:08

and Mr. Maranen said that the court would hear

15:10

that at this point in time, O'Reilly

15:12

was cracking up, having lost

15:14

his temper.

15:16

Mr. Maranen went on to describe to the

15:18

jury how the trio drove back through the

15:20

town with O'Reilly grabbing the steering

15:22

wheel from Ms. Tobin,

15:24

causing the vehicle to swerve towards

15:26

Daniel McDonald.

15:28

The prosecuting counsel said, quote,

15:30

So that's twice Daniel McDonald flirted

15:32

with serious injury, and he

15:34

had been lucky, but that wasn't the

15:36

end of the events that evening.

15:39

Mr. Maranen continued with the timeline

15:41

detailing how O'Reilly had eventually got

15:44

out of Jenny Tobin's car and gotten behind

15:46

the wheel of his own Honda Civic.

15:48

There

15:48

would be evidence that the accused drove

15:50

through the town at speed and turned back to

15:52

where McDonald was. When McDonald

15:55

moved out into the road gesturing at O'Reilly,

15:57

the car then swerved towards him.

16:00

The court heard that McDonald hit the windscreen

16:02

of O'Reilly's car smashing his head

16:05

before being thrown up to 40 metres

16:07

into the air. The jury

16:09

would hear that there were no break marks on

16:11

the road and, following the collision, O'Reilly's

16:14

car had mounted the pavement and caused

16:16

further damage in the village.

16:18

Later, after he had taken it upon

16:20

himself to go to Arclo Garda station,

16:23

the accused had eventually made admissions

16:25

to Garde related to the crash and

16:27

was subsequently arrested for public

16:29

disorder.

16:31

That day the jury were shown CCTV

16:33

footage from the night in question where

16:35

O'Reilly's car could be seen approaching

16:37

McDonald as he walked on Main Street.

16:40

The recording showed the impact as Daniel

16:42

McDonald's body was thrown up into the air

16:44

before he landed on the left side of

16:46

the road and people gathered

16:48

around him.

16:50

On the second day of the proceedings, O'Reilly's

16:53

friend Keith Ennis gave evidence telling

16:55

the court that he had gone to pick up O'Reilly's

16:58

red Honda Civic after O'Reilly

17:00

had been kicked out of rascals for fighting with

17:02

Daniel McDonald.

17:04

Ennis said he had stopped the car behind a black

17:06

car that he thought belonged to another of O'Reilly's

17:08

friends, Alana Toomey.

17:11

He had gotten out of the car to talk to Alana

17:13

and, as he did so, O'Reilly passed him,

17:16

getting into the Honda Civic and taking

17:18

off with the engine revving.

17:20

The witness described how he had seen O'Reilly

17:22

deliberately pull the steering wheel to the

17:24

right to hit McDonald saying quote,

17:27

The next thing I saw was Anto

17:29

running up the road with four fellas chasing

17:31

him and blood on his face.

17:34

Ennis told the court that he knew that something

17:36

had happened, so he ran and hid in

17:38

some bushes for two hours

17:40

and called his mother to come and pick him up.

17:44

Next to give evidence was Cassandra Dunbar.

17:46

She had heard O'Reilly threaten to kill Daniel

17:49

McDonald outside rascals and

17:51

said that the man had been irate and asking

17:54

a friend of his for car keys. She

17:56

said he was quote, Screaming like a lunatic.

17:59

then saw the accused jump into Jenny Tobin's

18:02

car and witnessed how Mr. Macdonald

18:04

had gotten his foot stuck in the window.

18:07

She said that some time later she was standing on

18:09

the road when a red Honda Civic sped by

18:12

and her friend had pulled her in off the road

18:14

to avoid being hit by it.

18:17

Not long after, Ms Dunbar said she heard

18:19

a loud bang and looked up to see glass

18:21

going everywhere as a shirtless O'Reilly

18:24

with blood on his face got out of the

18:26

red car and ran away.

18:29

Another bystander, Zoe Walker,

18:31

told the prosecuting council that she and

18:33

a friend had asked O'Reilly to calm down

18:36

after he had been kicked out of rascals, but

18:38

that O'Reilly had responded by pushing her

18:40

friend and telling her to get out of the way.

18:43

Walker said that about ten minutes

18:45

later a red car passed around Main Street.

18:48

O'Reilly was behind the wheel and Walker

18:50

said that the car was going so fast that

18:52

she hardly saw it.

18:54

She then heard shouting and a loud bang

18:56

and when the car stopped she saw O'Reilly

18:59

get out and realised that someone

19:01

had been knocked down.

19:03

As the first week of the trial came to a close,

19:05

key witness Jenny Tobin took to the stand.

19:08

According to Ms Tobin, she had been sitting

19:10

in her car near rascals when an

19:13

enraged O'Reilly had jumped into the

19:15

car on top of her friend, Samantha

19:17

Earls.

19:18

Tobin said that she was afraid and didn't

19:20

know what was going on.

19:22

She said that O'Reilly had told her to quote drive

19:24

the fucking car or you're dead.

19:27

Tobin moved on to testify that when

19:29

she realised that Daniel McDonald's foot

19:31

was trapped in the passenger window, she'd

19:34

slowed the car and let the window

19:36

down to free him. O'Reilly

19:37

then demanded that

19:39

she drive him to a friend's house to get

19:41

a shotgun.

19:43

As they passed the chemist in town, Tobin

19:45

recalled that she saw Daniel McDonald standing

19:48

on the side of the street and when O'Reilly

19:50

spotted him he had grabbed the steering wheel

19:52

from her, turning it in the direction

19:55

of McDonald,

19:56

but she had pulled the wheel back.

19:58

O'Reilly had then jumped out and got in the car.

19:59

into his own car driving off at speed,

20:02

but Tobin said he was not in control

20:05

and he had sideswiped her car as he took

20:07

off.

20:08

Shortly after this, O'Reilly came running

20:10

back up the street shirtless and covered

20:12

in blood. Tobin said that he shouted

20:14

that he had killed someone and then he threatened to kill

20:17

her parents if she didn't drive him to the Garda

20:19

station, which she did

20:21

because she was terrified of him.

20:24

The second week of the trial opened with Michael

20:26

Kenny who said he'd seen O'Reilly speed

20:28

up as he approached Daniel McDonald.

20:31

Mr Kenny testified that the red Honda

20:33

Civic hadn't braked before the impact.

20:35

He said quote, the car hit

20:37

his legs and his head hit the windscreen

20:40

and he just flicked up in the air.

20:43

Following Mr Kenny's evidence, Samantha

20:45

Earls testified that O'Reilly had jumped

20:47

into Jenny Tobin's car on top of her. Her

20:50

leg was jammed in the door because of O'Reilly,

20:52

she said, and he had been quote, going mad,

20:55

hitting the dashboard with his fists.

20:57

Ms Earls added that as they reached

20:59

the top of the town, O'Reilly had demanded to be

21:01

taken to get a shotgun.

21:03

Ms Earls' testimony aligned with that given

21:06

by Jenny Tobin that Anthony O'Reilly

21:08

had grabbed the steering wheel as they drove, with

21:10

Ms Earls adding that, in her opinion,

21:13

O'Reilly seemed more angry than frightened.

21:15

Next, Pascal

21:18

O'Reilly, a friend of Daniel McDonald,

21:20

told Mr Justice O'Higgins that Anthony

21:22

O'Reilly had plenty of opportunity to

21:24

leave Arklow before he hit McDonald

21:26

with his car.

21:28

Pascal said that O'Reilly was quote,

21:30

acting like the Antichrist after the fight

21:33

in Rascals.

21:34

He detailed the close calls that McDonald

21:36

had had with Jenny Tobin's car, saying

21:38

that after his friend's leg had been freed from

21:40

the car window, Daniel had rolled off

21:43

the car and walked back to Pascal saying

21:45

quote, that was mad.

21:47

Pascal then described seeing O'Reilly's

21:49

Honda Civic returning back through the town.

21:52

He'd stated quote, what was he coming back for?

21:54

He had a million opportunities to get out

21:56

of town. He knew exactly what he was doing.

21:59

witness described what happened next.

22:02

Daniel Macdonald had stepped out into the middle

22:04

of the left lane to wave O'Reilly down

22:07

and quote, The red car veered straight

22:09

onto the wrong side of the road, hit Daniel,

22:11

threw him 20 feet into the air and missed

22:14

me.

22:14

I clearly saw he swerved in to

22:17

hit Daniel Macdonald.

22:18

There's no doubt in my mind.

22:20

Under cross-examination by Mr Peter

22:23

Lavert defending, Pascal

22:25

said that he never thought that O'Reilly would write

22:27

off his car trying to kill them.

22:29

At this, Mr Lavert asked whether he

22:31

thought anyone would be mad enough to do such

22:33

a thing.

22:34

Pascal responded, quote, Well,

22:36

we're obviously here today to prove that he

22:39

is. Another witness,

22:41

Colin Hardy, gave evidence that on

22:43

the night of Daniel Macdonald's death, he saw

22:46

two Dublin men shouting at three Arclo

22:48

men outside Rascals.

22:50

One of the Dublin men, alleged to be O'Reilly,

22:53

then ran off and Macdonald

22:56

followed him towards a black car.

22:58

Mr Hardy said that at the car there was a

23:00

scuffle and the car drove off, with

23:03

Daniel Macdonald hanging off it with his

23:05

foot stuck in the window.

23:06

Macdonald freed his foot and rolled off

23:09

the car.

23:10

The witness had also seen the car driving

23:12

back through the street and swerving at Macdonald

23:14

before driving off again. The

23:17

court heard evidence from Dr Michael

23:19

Curtis of his findings during Daniel

23:21

Macdonald's post-mortem.

23:24

He described the extent of Macdonald's

23:26

horrific head and chest injuries telling

23:28

the jury that the young man's skull fracture was

23:30

so severe that his brain had been torn.

23:34

Dr Curtis said that often when people

23:36

are struck by a car in such a manner, they

23:38

present it with broken legs, however

23:40

this was not the case with Daniel Macdonald.

23:43

The pathologist said that it had been

23:45

suggested to him that Macdonald had

23:47

possibly jumped into the air before

23:49

impact in an attempt to avoid

23:52

being hit and that this would

23:54

explain the absence of leg fractures.

23:57

Following Dr Curtis' testimony,

23:59

Eddie McElharen took to the stand.

24:02

He recounted the events of February 2nd,

24:04

describing how he had been on the phone to his

24:06

girlfriend as he walked home after a night out

24:09

when

24:09

he heard a loud bang.

24:11

Mr McElharen said that he saw a quote,

24:13

red boy racer car in the middle

24:15

of the road with a lot of damage to the front

24:17

of the vehicle. He then saw Daniel

24:20

McDonald lying on the ground nearby

24:22

and went over to see if he could offer assistance

24:24

to the injured man,

24:26

but the man was not responsive.

24:28

McElharen said quote, he was

24:31

heavily bleeding from the mouth and seemed like

24:33

he was choking on the blood. Mr

24:35

McElharen said that the scene was one

24:37

of escalating chaos, that

24:40

people were screaming and becoming hysterical.

24:42

Once

24:42

the Garde arrived and gave him a glove,

24:45

the witness recalled trying to clear McDonald's

24:47

airway, but that McDonald had

24:49

stopped breathing just as the ambulance

24:51

arrived.

24:53

Little woman Aoife Gallagher recalled

24:55

that she had been driving around Arcloe on the night

24:57

of Daniel McDonald's death and told

25:00

the court that earlier on in the night, she

25:02

had seen Anthony O'Reilly standing in

25:04

the middle of the road acting like a lunatic,

25:07

screaming and shouting.

25:08

She said quote, he was shouting, there's going

25:10

to be war, I'm going to fucking kill him.

25:13

Ms Gallagher also remembered seeing the

25:15

accused getting into Jenny Tobin's car

25:17

and sitting on top of Samantha Earls.

25:20

The witness claimed that she had never before seen

25:22

anyone as agitated as O'Reilly

25:24

was when she saw him shouting in the middle of the

25:26

road.

25:27

Ms Gallagher said quote,

25:29

there was a horrible atmosphere after that, it

25:31

was just so obviously the anger.

25:35

Following a short adjournment to deal with

25:37

a legal issue, Anthony O'Reilly's trial

25:39

resumed on Monday the 21st of April,

25:42

with Sgt. Finnerty giving evidence of

25:45

O'Reilly's arrest and subsequent interviews.

25:47

Sgt. Finnerty said that O'Reilly

25:50

was in a drunken and agitated state

25:52

when he arrived at Arcloe Garda station.

25:54

The young man claimed that three local

25:57

lads had beaten him up

25:58

and he became increasingly

25:59

eye-rate as he demanded that a doctor

26:02

be called, and photographs be taken

26:04

of his injuries.

26:06

Sergeant Finnerty said that O'Reilly had

26:08

flicked blood at him from a cut above his eye

26:10

which led to his arrest for a public disorder,

26:13

and he was put into a cell.

26:15

As the sergeant prepared to leave the station

26:17

after being notified of the crash on Main Street,

26:20

he recalled how O'Reilly had admitted

26:23

to driving the car that had hit Daniel

26:25

McDonald.

26:27

Then O'Reilly's statements which he

26:29

had given voluntarily were read to the court.

26:31

He told Gardee that a group of six to eight

26:34

arclo lads had come up to him and his friends on

26:36

the dance floor at Rascals.

26:38

They were looking for aggro, he claimed, and

26:40

when O'Reilly asked McDonald what his problem

26:42

was, he claimed that McDonald had

26:45

swore at him and hit him.

26:47

The accused asserted that he couldn't remember

26:49

grabbing the steering wheel and swerving toward

26:51

McDonald in Jenny Tobin's car, but

26:53

he did recall getting into his own Honda Civic

26:55

when he saw it stopped in the street.

26:58

He told officers that the road curved

27:00

so he'd moved his car into the left lane

27:03

to take the corner, but just as he

27:05

was on the bend, McDonald had stepped

27:07

out in front of the car and he was

27:09

driving too fast to stop.

27:11

O'Reilly told Gardee, quote, I

27:14

definitely didn't mean to hit this fellow with my

27:16

car, he just stepped out in front of me.

27:18

I

27:19

just saw his face and I knew that

27:21

something was terribly wrong.

27:32

As the state geared up

27:34

to conclude their case, the court heard

27:36

about technical evidence found at the

27:38

scene of the crash.

27:40

There were no brake marks on the road,

27:42

but there were acceleration scuff marks

27:44

which were consistent with a car accelerating

27:47

away.

27:48

Leading up to the point of impact, there

27:51

were faint lines on the road which suggested

27:53

that the weight of the vehicle had shifted

27:55

to take the bend.

27:57

This was followed by damage to the road's

28:00

surface that was consistent with the

28:02

pedestrian bollard being dragged along

28:04

under the front of a car.

28:07

The court was told that Arclough's main

28:09

street was a 50km an hour

28:11

zone.

28:12

Garda Edward Davenne, who was a road

28:15

accident expert, testified that

28:17

he had examined the CCTV footage

28:19

of the incident and subsequently had

28:22

taken measurements at the crash site.

28:24

He estimated that O'Reilly's car

28:27

was travelling at between 66 and 81km an hour

28:29

at the time of the incident and

28:33

that the bend in the road at that location

28:35

could safely be taken at a maximum speed

28:38

of 103km per hour.

28:41

Garda Davenne also told the court

28:43

that on viewing the CCTV footage

28:46

he'd observed what he believed to be a brake

28:48

light illuminating on the Honda before

28:51

the impact.

28:52

Garda Davenne also gave evidence

28:54

regarding the amount of time a lapse

28:56

between Mr. McDonald appearing on the

28:58

road in the footage to the point that O'Reilly's

29:01

car had turned towards him.

29:03

The Garda stated that when McDonald

29:05

was in view close to the centre of the road,

29:07

O'Reilly's car could be seen to change

29:10

course and cross the centre line

29:12

towards him.

29:13

Garda Davenne had determined that there was

29:15

a one second delay between Daniel

29:18

McDonald coming into full view

29:20

and the Honda changing course.

29:22

It was a quick reaction, he said.

29:25

Under cross examination by defence council

29:28

Blaise O'Carroll, Garda Davenne was

29:30

asked if the maximum speed of

29:32

103km an hour would require a Michael

29:35

Schumacher type driver or an

29:37

average driver.

29:38

Garda Davenne responded that he didn't

29:40

know. He

29:41

told Mr. O'Carroll that he had not looked

29:43

at driver reaction times but that

29:45

the CCTV footage showed that the

29:48

vehicle had changed course towards Daniel

29:50

McDonald as soon as he came into view. The

29:53

court was told that there was a parked car

29:55

in the area of the footpath that Daniel

29:57

McDonald had emerged from and

29:59

the

31:59

average reaction time for drivers in

32:02

the face of unexpected events

32:04

was 1 to 3 seconds. Dr. Wood said

32:06

that there were 20%

32:08

of drivers who would swerve, with the

32:10

remaining 80% breaking as a typical reaction.

32:15

Having examined the CCTV footage

32:17

and photographs taken at the scene, it was his

32:19

opinion that O'Reilly would have had a full

32:22

view of Daniel McDonald for just over

32:24

one second after McDonald stepped

32:26

into the road.

32:27

Dr. Wood also concluded from his

32:29

examination that McDonald had been jumping

32:32

up and down as he stood in the centre of the road

32:34

and that if he had remained stationary or

32:37

continued to cross to the other side of the road,

32:39

then he would have avoided being hit by

32:41

O'Reilly's car.

32:44

On Friday the 25th of April,

32:46

Caroline Biggs gave the prosecution's

32:49

closing statement.

32:50

She told the jury that it was up to them to

32:52

decide whether or not O'Reilly was guilty

32:54

of reckless endangerment as he grabbed

32:57

the steering wheel of Jenny Tobin's car

32:59

and swerved towards Daniel McDonald.

33:02

She said that the fact that O'Reilly had intended

33:04

to cause McDonald's serious injury or

33:06

to kill him was what made it murder.

33:08

Ms. Biggs asked the

33:10

jury members to look at the evidence and

33:13

assess what a reasonable person would

33:15

have done in the same situation. O'Reilly

33:18

had driven his Honda Civic across the

33:20

centre line on the road towards McDonald

33:23

and it was the prosecution's case that this act

33:25

was a conscious decision.

33:27

Ms. Biggs concluded by saying that O'Reilly's

33:30

defence claim that McDonald had put

33:32

him in fear of his life, making him

33:34

flee for his own safety,

33:35

simply didn't stack up.

33:38

In his summation, Blaise O'Carroll asserted

33:41

that O'Reilly was indeed fleeing

33:43

for his life and while the accused

33:46

wasn't a saint, he never had any

33:48

intention of killing Daniel McDonald.

33:50

He backed up this claim by asking the jury

33:53

to look at why O'Reilly had jumped into

33:55

Jenny Tobin's car in the first place.

33:57

It was because he was being pursued by

33:59

McDonald and his friends, said Mr.

34:02

O'Carroll.

34:03

Mr. Justice Kevin O'Higgins commenced

34:06

his charge to the jury and they retired

34:08

to consider their verdict shortly after

34:10

4pm on Tuesday 29 April.

34:13

After seven hours and nine minutes of

34:15

deliberation, they returned with a majority

34:18

guilty verdict of 11 to 1. O'Reilly

34:20

showed no emotion as the

34:22

mandatory life sentence was handed down,

34:25

and when he was led from the court he looked over

34:27

his shoulder and appeared to smirk.

34:31

Because it was the first time that anyone

34:33

had come before the courts in Ireland charged

34:35

with using a motor vehicle as a weapon,

34:38

the trial was a test case.

34:40

O'Reilly was also found guilty of

34:42

dangerous driving causing the death of

34:44

McDonald and reckless endangerment,

34:47

which he would be sentenced for at a later

34:49

date.

34:50

In a tragic turn of events due to another

34:53

family bereavement, Daniel McDonald's

34:55

family were absent from the court

34:57

as the verdict was read out.

34:59

On the 1st of May, the Evening Herald

35:02

published comments from Glenn Murphy, a

35:04

friend of Daniel McDonald, who was with him

35:06

on the night that he died.

35:08

Murphy said that he was still suffering from nightmares

35:10

after the terrible event. He had watched

35:13

in horror as Anthony O'Reilly's Honda

35:15

Civic came up the street sounding like a

35:17

boy racer, roaring in the direction of

35:19

McDonald.

35:20

He said, quote, it was like something you see

35:22

on a Mandela racetrack. You'd pay

35:25

to do them kind of speeds. I

35:27

just shouted to Daniel to get out of the way. As

35:29

I shouted it, I could see the car going bang.

35:32

Murphy went on to say that Daniel had been

35:34

hit so hard that he had, quote, come

35:37

level with the top of the pub's roof.

35:40

On the 29th of May, O'Reilly appeared

35:42

in court for sentencing on the charges

35:44

of dangerous driving causing death and

35:46

reckless endangerment.

35:48

Prosecutor Patrick Maranann told the

35:50

court that O'Reilly had a previous conviction

35:53

for assault which he had picked up while on bail

35:55

for the murder of Daniel McDonald.

35:57

In mitigation, defense counsel Peter

35:59

Lavert said that O'Reilly was the youngest

36:02

of four children, and that both of his

36:04

parents suffered from ill health.

36:06

They had stood by their son, he said.

36:09

Passing sentence, Mr Justice O'Higgins

36:11

stated that he deemed both offences to

36:13

be at the more severe end of the scale, and

36:15

he handed down a term of eight years for

36:17

dangerous driving causing death and

36:20

a further six years for reckless endangerment.

36:23

This gave O'Reilly an additional fourteen

36:25

years, however they were set to run

36:27

concurrently with his life sentence.

36:30

Daniel McDonald's cousin, Edwina

36:32

Mython spoke in court on behalf

36:34

of the McDonald family, saying that

36:36

Daniel was quote, a good person

36:38

who was adored beyond words.

36:41

She said that the family cannot and will

36:43

never come to terms with the loss of Daniel,

36:45

and that they were reminded of how he died

36:48

every day as they walked past the murder

36:50

scene. Edwina

36:51

finished by saying that the McDonald's

36:53

were broken as a family, but they hoped

36:56

to find the strength to carry on in

36:58

family and friends.

37:00

Outside the four courts, another cousin, Lorraine

37:02

Kenny, read a statement written by Daniel

37:04

McDonald's family which said quote,

37:07

Justice for our loving son Daniel

37:09

has been done, but it does not end here

37:11

for us.

37:12

We will carry the heartache, pain and flashbacks

37:15

of that horrific day for the rest of our lives.

37:17

Anthony O'Reilly robbed our son of life.

37:20

Anthony O'Reilly did not know our son.

37:23

She continued quote, How someone

37:26

can carry out such a horrific crime is

37:28

something we can never understand, but

37:30

we will not live our lives through bitterness

37:32

and anger, and we will not let

37:34

Anthony O'Reilly destroy our lives.

37:37

Daniel was a proud loyal young man

37:39

and we will respect his memory.

37:41

Daniel went for a drink in his local and

37:43

he never came home.

37:45

It emerged after O'Reilly's trial

37:48

that in fact he had had 18 previous

37:51

convictions, including drug-related

37:53

offences. On the 22nd of

37:55

January 2009 he was found guilty of possessing almost 2,000

37:58

euros.

37:59

worth of cocaine, a charge

38:02

which predated the murder.

38:04

For this crime he was given a further two-year

38:06

sentence.

38:08

Three months later, in April of 2009, O'Reilly's

38:10

appeal of his

38:13

life sentence for the murder of Daniel

38:15

McDonald was rejected. Lawyers

38:18

on behalf of O'Reilly had argued that the prosecution's

38:20

case contained inconsistencies which

38:23

made the conviction unsafe.

38:25

Further, it was claimed that the trial judge had

38:27

erred by not withdrawing the murder charge

38:29

from the jury in circumstances where

38:32

the prosecution's case contained

38:34

an inherent contradiction.

38:36

In particular, it was contended that Garda

38:38

Davenne had accepted and agreed with propositions

38:41

from a technical witness for the defence that

38:43

centrifugal force coupled with driver

38:46

error may have resulted in O'Reilly driving

38:48

towards McDonald inadvertently.

38:51

This contradicted the prosecution's claim

38:53

that O'Reilly had deliberately knocked down

38:56

Daniel McDonald and as part

38:58

of his appeal, O'Reilly claimed that

39:00

this inherent contradiction should have

39:02

resulted in Mr Justice O'Higgins withdrawing

39:05

the murder charge.

39:06

However, the Court of Criminal Appeal rejected

39:09

these claims, finding that Mr Justice

39:11

O'Higgins ruling was correct.

39:13

The Court said that the admission of

39:15

an alternative possibility on a matter is

39:17

not a ground where a trial judge should grant

39:20

a direction.

39:22

In an ironic coincidence, the only

39:24

other case in Irish history which resulted

39:26

in a conviction for using a car to

39:29

carry out a murder also happened

39:31

in the town of Arcloe.

39:33

In 2016, Marta Herda

39:35

was found guilty of murdering Chaba

39:37

Orsas by deliberately driving

39:39

the car they were both travelling in off

39:41

the pier at South Key in Arcloe.

39:44

For more details, see episode 109.

39:48

Daniel McDonald's family have a stark

39:50

reminder of the young man's short life

39:53

and senseless death every time they pass

39:55

through the main street of Arcloe Town.

39:57

His cousin Lorraine Kenny said to quote

40:00

quote, we have asked ourselves over and

40:02

over why. We ache to

40:04

hold him, see him, hear him, but

40:06

we never will. Anthony O'Reilly

40:09

took that away from us.

40:12

Thank you for listening to Mens Rhea, a true crime

40:14

podcast. You can find us on Facebook,

40:17

Twitter and Instagram at MensRheaPod,

40:19

or you can send an email to mensreahpod at

40:22

gmail.com. This podcast

40:24

is made possible in part from generous

40:26

donations by supporters on Patreon.

40:29

Special thanks to CS677, Joan

40:32

Taylor, John Farrelly, Richard Leonhardt,

40:34

Ciara Malloy, Mark Cheshire and Paddy's

40:37

Pocket. Please do check it out at

40:39

patreon.com forward slash mensreahpod.

40:42

Our theme music is Quinn's song The Dance Begins

40:44

by Kevin MacLeod. Additional music

40:47

is by Juanita Maisel and Kevin MacLeod.

40:50

This week's episode was researched and written by

40:52

the amazing Aileen Spearon. Additional

40:55

writing and production was by me, your host Sinead.

40:58

All sources for today's episode can be found

41:00

in the show notes or on our website, www.mensreahpod.com.

41:06

And so, till next time, don't

41:09

do anything I wouldn't do.