Oisín’s killer father was found with "ball of cash"

A father who murdered his young son this week before taking his own life was being investigated for money laundering offences, Extra.ie has learned.

A file was also being prepared by gardaí after Wayne O’Reilly made threats to kill his 12-year-old son Oisín Reddin when he absconded with him last October.

Gardaí tracked down O’Reilly to a hotel room in Limerick, where he refused to open the door to officers. Members of the Garda Armed Response Unit had to "force entry" to get the boy out.

Sources familiar with the operation said Oisín was ‘happy’ and ‘relieved’ to be taken from his father’s care at the time.

O’Reilly was arrested and a substantial "ball of cash" discovered at the scene was seized by gardaí.

A source said the officers’ "immediate concern" was for Oisín, who was detained under Section 12 of the Child Care Act that night and brought into the care of the child and family agency, Tusla.

But less than three months after the shocking incident, Oisín’s body was found in a house in Clondalkin, west Dublin, on Thursday morning.

The grim discovery was made shortly after the body of his 48-year-old father was found at another property in nearby Ballyfermot.

Mr O’Reilly had previously come to the attention of gardaí and had been arrested a number of times under the Mental Health Act.

Ballyfermot, where Wayne O'Reilly's body was discovered. (RollingNews.ie)

Last October, he went missing with his son, raising serious fears for Oisín’s safety. Family members reported the two missing and gardaí issued a public appeal for information. Photographs of the father and son were released by gardaí at the time.

Extra.ie has learned they were tracked down to the hotel room in Limerick hours after the Garda appeal.

A source said officers’ concerns for Oisín’s welfare were relayed to Tusla.

In circumstances where a child is detained under Section 12 of the Child Care Act, the child and family agency has 72 hours to go to court to apply for a care order or return the child to family.

But in Oisín’s case, Tusla instructed gardaí to return him by car to his father’s family in Dublin.

A source told the Extra.ie: "Tusla out of hours were contacted and they told gardaí to drive him to Dublin to a family member."

Sources said gardaí involved in the operation were surprised at the decision, considering the circumstances in which Oisín was found.

Clondalkin, where Oisin O'Reilly (11) was found. (RollingNews.ie)

"In this case, the Armed Support Unit had to force entry to secure the child," one said.

"His family were so concerned by them going missing they reported it to gardaí.

"And yet they seemed happy enough to return the child to family."

O’Reilly was arrested at the scene, detained and interviewed for making threats to the boy and suspected money-laundering offences.

A source said: "The father couldn’t account for the cash. There was a suggestion he ripped off a drug dealer.

"He was later released and a file was being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions."

Tusla put a safety plan in place after O’Reilly had absconded with his son. It is understood this meant he would be supervised by family members while he was with his son.

However, O’Reilly continued to have custody of Oisín.

Extended relatives, understood to be on Oisín’s mother’s side, engaged in a legal custody battle as they were concerned for the boy’s safety.

The next court hearing was due to take place later this month.

But at around 8.30am on Thursday, O’Reilly’s remains were found in the back garden of his ex-partner’s house at Cherry Orchard Drive in Ballyfermot.

Photo shows tributes, toys and flowers which members of the public have left at the scene where the body of Oisin Reddin (age 11) was found in Lindisfarne Grove, Clondalkin. (RollingNews.ie)

Gardaí immediately became concerned for Oisín’s welfare.

Their worst fears were confirmed a short time later after the child’s remains were discovered at a house on Lealand Road in Clondalkin where O’Reilly had been living.

Postmortems on the father and son’s remains have been completed, but the results are not being released for operational reasons.

However, gardaí suspect O’Reilly killed his son by asphyxiation at the house on Lealand Road before travelling to his ex-partner’s home at Cherry Orchard Drive before taking his own life in the back garden.

Tusla has confirmed that while Oisín was not in the care of the State, the family was known to the agency.

It added: "The death of a child is a tragedy’ and extended its sympathies to Oisín’s family.

"We continue to engage with An Garda Síochána as they conduct their investigation, and it would not be appropriate to comment further at this time," the agency said in a statement.

*This article was originally published on Extra.ie.