Shamed Humphries ‘learning Spanish so he can move abroad’
‘Talking about a fresh start’
DISGRACED former sports journalist Tom Humphries has been learning Spanish at the Midlands Prison ahead of a possible move overseas.
And the former Irish Times writer was moved at the weekend to share a cell with babykiller John Tighe, who was sentenced to life in prison in late March for the murder of his six-month-old son.
Humphries is due for release in August 2019, it is understood. He had previously been sharing a cell with an ‘inoffensive’ inmate in the jail, but was moved at the weekend when he ‘reacted badly’ to being told a third person was due to be moved into their cell, which had capacity for three.
A prison source explained: ‘Humphries was in a cell with another man and all was OK.
‘But when he was told another inmate was joining them, he got very upset; he said he wasn’t putting up with it and he caused a huge issue over it.
‘Eventually, prison staff were forced to concede as he would not accept under any circumstances the concept of sharing a cell with two people.
‘Now he is in with John Tighe, probably one of the most disliked and vilified people to enter this jail in recent years.’
The Irish Daily Mail understands that Humphries has been enjoying Spanish classes at the jail. It is believed he is ‘seriously considering’ relocating to Spain upon his release, in just 15 months’ time.
A prison source added: ‘He is very recognised here in Ireland. He is talking about a fresh start, in a country where people don’t know who he is.
‘So he’s considering Spain and is using his time behind bars to try to learn the language.’
In October of last year, the former sports journalist was jailed for two-and-a-half years for grooming a girl from when she was 14 years old before sexually abusing her.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court previously heard Humphries exchanged at least 16,000 text messages with the girl during a three-month period leading up to March 2011, as part of the grooming process.
In her lengthy sentencing remarks, Judge Karen O’Connor said the offences merited a ‘headline sentence’ of four years in prison. However, after taking into account mitigating factors including Humphries’s previous ‘high profile’ and his fall from that position, she reduced this by 18 months.
‘It would be difficult not to have sympathy for him. That’s not to excuse his behaviour,’ Judge O’Connor said at sentencing.
‘It’s something of a truism to say the higher the profile and success of a member of society, the greater the fall.’
Meanwhile, Humphries’s new cellmate John Tighe, 40, received a life sentence in March after being found guilty of murdering his six-month-old son almost five years ago.
Tighe, of Lavallyroe, Ballyhaunis, Co. Mayo, had pleaded not guilty to murdering Joshua Sussbier Tighe at his home on June 1, 2013.
However, the jury of nine women and three men returned with a unanimous guilty verdict after more than seven-and-a-half hours of deliberation.
Tighe attempted to speak to the baby’s mother, Natasha Sussbier, after she delivered an impact statement in which she detailed the trauma she has suffered since her son’s death. She walked past him without speaking.
In her statement, she told prosecuting counsel Paul Murray SC that Tighe had controlled her and lied to her face. She said that she finally realised he was not telling the truth when members of her family showed her the medical evidence that proved Joshua did not die accidentally.
Ms Sussbier asked: ‘How can someone be so heartless as to lie to my face about something so serious?’
She said that following the death of her young son, whom she described as her ‘pride and joy’, she had never experienced such heartache and anger.