MAN GUILTY OF BOMB THREAT TO MINISTER
Rapist Murray, 52, made call from cell in Midlands Prison, jury finds
A MAN accused of phoning in a bomb threat to the house of Justice Minister Helen Mcentee has been found guilty by a jury.
Michael Murray, 52, of Killiney, South Dublin, had pleaded not guilty to one count of knowingly making a false report giving rise to an apprehension for the safety of someone else while he was imprisoned in the Midlands Prison, Portlaoise, on March 7, 2021.
The eight-day trial heard that an anonymous caller phoned the Samaritans claiming to be from the Irish National Liberation Army and said explosives had been planted at the home of the Minister for Justice.
The jury in the trial returned the verdict yesterday after five hours and 10 minutes of deliberation.
Murray made no reaction as the verdict was handed down in court.
He has previous convictions for rape, false imprisonment, sexual assault, child abduction, threats to kill, harassment, theft and armed robbery.
In 2013, Murray was convicted of abducting a mother and her fouryear-old son and repeatedly raping the woman for hours.
He received a sentence of 19 years’ imprisonment for this. He was then sentenced to 16 further years in prison for a campaign of harassment and death threats directed at his victim and the prosecuting lawyers in that trial –
CALL with the judge calling his actions an “unprecedented and deliberate” abuse of process. During his sentence hearing for those charges, Murray threw a Bible at the judge. That judge described his actions as “a fundamental attack on our system of justice”.
Judge Patricia Ryan thanked the jurors for their service and adjourned the matter for sentencing next Friday. She remanded Murray in continuing custody.
During the trial, a Samaritans volunteer told the court she was left “really shook” after receiving a call saying explosives had been planted at the Justice Minister’s family home.
The volunteer said she had been on duty when the phone rang.
She answered the phone and, after a few moments of silence, heard a male voice say: “Can you take a message?”
She told the court the caller then said: “This is the Irish National Liberation Organisation. Explosives have been planted at the home of the Minister of Justice and her family. The password is Red October. This is to do with a court case happening in Dublin tomorrow.” The woman told the court the voice spoke “slowly, carefully and calmly”.
The court heard the call was traced to the extension within Murray’s cell.
During the trial the court heard Murray told gardai: “I wish to say I was the person who made the call. I did so in frustration.
“That stops the bulls***.”