Louth teenager Cameron Reilly was “friends” with his “killer” and had been in contact with him hours before his murder, the court said

He said the group are friends in the “loose sense” of the word, as is often applied to teenagers, with groups of alliances floating.

Mr Connolly (22) of Willistown, Drumcar, Co Louth has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Mr Reilly (18) on 26th May 2018 at Shamrock Hill, Dunleer.

Mr Kelly told the jury that they received evidence from pathologist Dr. Linda Mulligan will hear that Mr Reilly died as a result of asphyxia and external pressure on the front of his neck.

He said the pathologist would go on to explain that his cause of death was consistent with a stranglehold or suffocation resulting from some form of ligature around his neck.

Mr Kelly said that on the evening of May 25, 2018, all the young people on the field knew each other and met “to do what young people do” – drink cans and get off-licence vodka.

The group had a pair of bluetooth speakers and went to a field where they spent a few hours drinking.

It was an evening that should have been remarkable “only because of the absolute banality of the experience,” the attorney said.

However, around 8.15am the next morning, a man walking his dog noticed a person he initially believed to be asleep but later realized to be a body later than Cameron Reilly’s has been confirmed.

The jury heard that Mr Reilly lived with his grandparents in Dunleer, Co Louth but moved back and forth between there and his parents’ home in Drogheda. At the time of his death he was a student at DKIT in Dundalk.

Mr Reilly had a large circle of friends and enjoyed socializing, which was one of the reasons he was drawn to Dunleer, the court heard.

Mr Kelly told the jury there was no doubt Aaron Connolly was part of the group that gathered on the field that night and that he and Cameron Reilly knew each other.

The teenagers were the same age and Mr Connolly was only two weeks older than Mr Reilly, he said.

Mr Connolly was living with his parents in Wilistown just outside Dunleer at the time and was working in construction.

The prosecutor told the jury that sometime in the afternoon of May 25, Mr. Reilly was at home and told his grandmother that he was going out. That would be the last time she saw him alive.

Mr Reilly went to Dundalk with two friends, where they ‘knocked around’ and got something to eat before returning to Dunleer.

The three friends then went to the field, where it was “pretty clear” that some members of the group had been drinking a fair amount of alcohol and it was likely that some drugs had been taken and some cannabis smoked, the lawyer said.

There was no doubt that Mr Connolly was there, that he left and then came back and that he had bought a case of beer and assorted drinks, the solicitor said.

“Eventually they all found themselves there at 8:30 p.m. in the evening,” he added.

Mr Kelly told the jury they would be hearing from a number of young people who were present that evening.

As the night wore on, some people left, but some were still there, and that group left the field and went to Enzio’s diner in town.

Mr Reilly ordered food at around 12:10pm and the group can be seen moving away at around 12:40pm.

Mr Kelly said it was the prosecution’s case that Mr Reilly returned to the field with Mr Connolly and between 12.40am and 1.40am Mr Connolly caused the injuries which the jury will hear in evidence and which he intentionally brought about in Mr Reilly’s death .

Mr Kelly said prosecutors will claim that “he then left the field on foot and made his way back to his parents’ house, arriving there around 2.30am”.

He told the jury there could be no doubt that Mr Reilly was alive just before 1am and subsequently died violently.

It was up to them to decide whether or not Mr Connolly did it, he added.

The trial will continue tomorrow before Judge Tony Hunt and a jury of seven women and five men.