The judge in the murder trial of Joe O'Reilly yesterday told the jury to ignore media reports of the case, as they had to reach their verdict only on the evidence they heard in court.
It was the second time Mr Justice Barry White had told the jury to disregard any media reports.
He was speaking at the end of the 15th day of the trial of Mr O'Reilly (35), of Lambay View, Baldarragh, The Naul, Co Dublin, who has pleaded not guilty to murdering his wife, Rachel O'Reilly (30), at the family home on October 4th, 2004.
The judge was addressing the jury after the prosecution evidence had finished for the day. He reminded them that, at the start of the trial, he had suggested that they pay "little or no heed" to any reports relating to the trial.
He said: "You may have noticed there has been a large amount of publicity in relation to this case."
Referring specifically to yesterday's media reports of the trial, he said that he had not read the papers although he did hear a review of them on radio. "It certainly seemed to me that some newspapers were carrying what could be called 'lurid' headlines. At the end of the day, you will decide this case on what you hear in court and nothing else."
He suggested that if they "had not already read this morning's paper", they might refrain from doing so. "If there's publicity over the weekend, again I suggest you kindly ignore it."
The judge also explained why the prosecution's evidence had ended after just 25 minutes.
He explained that the prosecution were not "scraping the bottom of the barrel" but "were dealing with witnesses who have important but small roles to play in the inquiry".
He also said it was "safe to say" that the prosecution were nearing the end of their evidence.
In evidence, former Viacom employee Wesley Kearns said that he was working in the company for nearly two years before Mr O'Reilly came to work there. He told prosecuting counsel Denis Vaughan Buckley SC that, about a month after joining, Mr O'Reilly began to throw his weight around. He said Mr O'Reilly gave out to him, saying he had not put a poster up when he said he had. Mr Kearns said he put the poster up later that day.
Mr Kearns admitted that when the accused fired him sometime later, he threw a fire extinguisher at him. He said Mr O'Reilly then locked himself in his office.
Asked by Mr Vaughan Buckley whether he liked Mr O'Reilly, he said: "I did like him, yeah." Then he added: "Up until he fired me." Asked what he was doing on October 4th, 2004, he said that he went to the Labour Exchange in Clondalkin between 9am and midday.
Under cross-examination by defence counsel Anne Rowland BL, Mr Kearns said he was re-employed as a billposter by a subcontractor. He said Mr O'Reilly "didn't like that" and that he barred him from one side of the factory.
Garda Robert Kehoe told prosecuting counsel Dominic McGinn that he looked at CCTV footage from Aras Uí Dhálaigh on Church Street covering the period between 8am and 11am on the morning of the murder.
Asked whether he saw a "navy-blue Fiat Marea estate car", he said he was "not in a position to say". However, he said that when he looked at footage at 11 minutes and 26 seconds past 11am, he "did see a silver-grey car and, immediately following that, a navy-blue estate car which was similar to a Fiat Marea estate car, going away from the Broadstone direction, down Church Street and towards the quays."
Garda Kehoe said that still photographs from footage from Murphy's Quarry, beside the O'Reilly home, showed a red car at 11.58am and again at 12.07pm.
He said that in the first sighting the car was driving past the quarry in the direction of the O'Reilly home, and that it returned past the quarry, going away from the O'Reilly home, nine minutes later.
Under cross-examination by Patrick Gageby SC, Garda Kehoe was asked whether he saw any lorries on Church Street when he looked at the footage.
He said: "I was concerned about seeing a Fiat Marea car." Asked whether there were many lorries, he said: "I can't say how many lorries."
The judge then asked Garda Kehoe whether "Church Street accommodates two lanes of traffic in either direction".
When Garda Kehoe said that it did, Mr Justice White asked: "If there's traffic on the outer lane and there's traffic on the inner lane, what is your position in terms of you being able to view it [ traffic on the outer lane]?"
Garda Kehoe said that he would not be able to see it. "Obviously, I would be obstructed in terms of my viewing that vehicle," he said.
The trial, before a jury of nine men and two women, continues on Monday.