Prison bosses feared wife killer Joe O’Reilly was about to “get a hiding” because of his behaviour behind bars.
Sources said warders believed his arrogant behaviour would have led prisoners to attack him if he wasn’t moved from Wheatfield Prison. O’Reilly, 50, who battered his wife Rachel to death in 2004, was moved to the Midlands Prison on Tuesday night.
One source said: “This is something that has been brewing for a while. He has been throwing his weight around the prison and using his celebrity to cause problems for himself and others.
Read more: Wife killer Joe O'Reilly constant 'disruptive' behaviour forces prison move
“He was creating tensions and there was a fear he could soon be getting a hiding from prisoners because of it.” It is also understood that O’Reilly, who worked in gardening in Wheatfield Prison, has not yet been assigned a new job in the Midlands.
The killer, who this October will mark 15 years inside, could have been set for a move to an open prison and begin preparing for limited release in the next four or five years. But due to his behaviour, coupled with the move to the Midlands, sources say O’Reilly can look forward to an even longer stretch.
One said: “He’s set himself back now. A move to the Midlands is a major step backwards for him and it will mean him staying in a closed facility for longer.” O’Reilly, who was head chef in Dublin’s Arbour Hill, wants to work in the prison kitchens again.
But sources said his chances of that happening again are now quite slim.
This week, Rachel’s mum Rose Callaly said she hoped O’Reilly’s move might teach him a hard lesson.
She added: “He will have to realise he won’t get his own way everywhere.
“I thought he was cunning and he’d keep quiet but if there’s that many prisoners around you can’t fool everybody all the time.
“He has a very high opinion of himself. He probably tried long enough to keep out of trouble but everything eats out in the end.
“You have to be what you are and it’s starting to show. He thought he would have been out of prison by now.”
O’Reilly has given up on his freedom bid instead telling those close to him that he intends to apply for a move to an open prison.
But sources have now revealed the killer dropped that idea after realising he would not yet be eligible.
Tragic Rachel was murdered by him in their home in Naul, Co Dublin, on October 4, 2004. He has never shown any remorse for killing her.
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