“I Met My Son's Killer”: Heartbreak Led Brave Mum to Believe in Restorative Justice - 25/06/2026

A mother who came face-to-face with her son’s killer has spoken about the devastating impact of losing her eldest child in a fatal one-punch attack.In 2017, 20-year-old Luke O'Reilly was the victim of an unprovoked, one-punch attack. Luke was struck from behind without warning.  Initially, Luke’s family believed he had suffered only minor injuries, but after undergoing surgery and spending two weeks in hospital, Luke tragically died from his injuries.In the years since Luke’s death, his mother, Janet O’Brien, has become a strong advocate for restorative justice, and Janet joined us on The Agenda this morning to talk to us some more about this.In this heartbreaking interview with Janet, we also heard about the trauma of receiving the late-night call from Gardaí, the agonising days spent hoping for his recovery, and the difficult court process that followed. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.