The family of tragic Irish woman Jill Meagher have expressed their relief that Aussie fiend Adrian Bayley has pleaded guilty to her murder and spared them a court date.

Bayley admitted to an Australian court on Friday that he raped and then murdered the Drogheda girl in Melbourne last September.

His plea, after initially claiming he was not guilty, has spared the family the horrors of a rape and murder trial.

The Irish Sun reports that her heartbroken uncle Michael McKeon has released a statement on behalf of the family.

He said: “We are relieved that there will be no trial.

“The pain, bereavement and grief are still there. They are now awaiting the final outcome of the judicial process and the next court appearance is in June.”

Bayley, 41, appeared in the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne and admitted the horrific killing of the pretty 29-year-old last September.

He responded ‘guilty’ when asked for his plea to the charge of murdering Jill, from Drogheda, Co Louth, in Brunswick, Melbourne.

The pipe layer also pleaded guilty to one count of rape.

Supreme Court Justice Geoffrey Nettle accepted the pleas and remanded Bayley to reappear on June 11.

He will be sentenced on a date to be fixed at that hearing.

Bayley’s committal had heard that he and his partner had drinks in a pub and a city club on the night of Friday, September 21.

The report says his partner left him and went back to their home in Coburg not long after midnight.

The court was told Bayley returned there in a taxi at about 12.25am and changed his clothes before heading out again.

Meagher had been out drinking at several venues with colleagues from ABC television.

She declined a friend’s offer of a ride home in a taxi and began the short walk alone.

Prosecutor Gavin Silbert told the committal hearing Bayley came across Jill at about 1.38am.

Homicide squad detectives arrested Bayley on September 27. He made admissions and took police to recover Jill’s body, 50 kilometres north of Melbourne.