Man who repeatedly phoned in hoax bomb alerts avoids a jail term

By Isabel Hayes

A man who repeatedly phoned in hoax bomb alerts, including 100 calls in one night claiming there was a bomb in Garda Headquarters in the Phoenix Park, has been given a suspended sentence.

John Murphy (47) pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to three counts of making a false report on dates in August and October 2022.

One other count was taken into consideration.

Murphy, with an address at Reuben Square, Reuben Street, Dublin 8, used a mobile phone that was registered in his own name and in one instance gave his name while claiming there was a bomb.

The court heard Murphy was homeless for a period of 10 years and his current accommodation is his first home in a long time.

Defence counsel urged Judge Martin Nolan not to jail him, as he will lose the home he now takes great pride in.

Sentencing him yesterday, Judge Nolan said Murphy had caused the emergency services to react and had created inconvenience and stress for a large number of people.

“At the time he was leading a very confused life,” said Judge Nolan, noting that Murphy’s voice was well-known to gardaí and that eventually the law caught up with him.

The judge said Murphy seems to be doing quite well and gave him a fully-suspended sentence of three years, ordering him to be of good behaviour for that period.

“His fate is in his own hands. I suspect he should keep away from phones,” said Judge Nolan.

Garda Carl Howard told Fiona McGowan BL, prosecuting, that shortly after 10pm on October 3, 2020, Murphy phoned 999 to say there was a bomb in Kenny’s Pub in James’s Street.

A number of garda units were deployed to the area, which was busy at the time, the court heard, before it was discovered to be a hoax.

The following night, Murphy again called emergency services to say there was a bomb in Reuben Square.

Gardaí traced the call to Murphy and located him at his home in Reuben Square, where they found a Nokia phone with the same number.

Murphy told gardaí he did not remember making any such phone call in relation to a bomb.

A year later, on October 3 2021, Murphy phoned emergency services to say there was a bomb at the Garda Headquarters in Phoenix Park.

He made about 100 calls alleging the same during the course of the night, the court heard. Emergency service workers recognised his voice as being the previous hoaxer.

In the final offence, on August 9, 2022, Murphy phoned a homeless service provider and claimed there was a bomb at its headquarters on Leeson Street.

He was a client of the provider and gave his client ID number and his name to the person who took the call, the court heard.

A total of 48 people were evacuated from the building before it was established it was a hoax.

Murphy was charged in September 2022. He has 30 previous convictions, including three for making false reports.

There were no victim impact statements before the court.

John Berry BL, defending, said Murphy was homeless for about a decade and got his first home in 2020.

He said that for some time, Murphy was only sleeping in the bedroom and not using the rest of his home.

He has since settled into his home and is using all of the space, with a visiting psychologist noting he is keeping it meticulously clean, defence counsel said.

He is going to the gym and “taking pride in his body and in his property”, Mr Berry said.

He handed in a number of testimonials stating Murphy is attending addiction counselling and has not come to recent garda attention.

Defence counsel urged Judge Nolan not to jail Murphy, saying that if he is placed in custody, he will lose the stability he has recently found