The Court of Criminal Appeal has reserved judgment in an appeal by two Dublin men against their conviction for the drive-by murder of a 25-year-old father of one outside Cloverhill Prison in 2004.
Mr Justice Hugh Geoghegan, presiding at the three-judge court, said yesterday that many points had been raised in the appeal and the court would reserve judgment until the next law term in October.
Thomas Hinchon (26), St Ronan's Close, Clondalkin, and Brian Kenny (37), Kilshane Cross, Finglas, were each jailed for life in July 2005 for the murder of Jonathan O'Reilly, St Mark's Gardens, Clondalkin, on April 17th, 2004.
Kenny was also sentenced to three years for threatening to kill Joseph O'Callaghan (20), and Hinchon to 18 months on the same charge.
During the trial, the jury at the Central Criminal Court was told O'Reilly was shot outside Cloverhill Prison as he sat in a BMW car. It also heard that the State's main witness, Joseph O'Callaghan, is in the witness protection programme.
John Phelan, counsel for Kenny, submitted that this case was the first of its kind because all other cases involving protected witnesses had been heard before the non-jury Special Criminal Court.