Former surf instructor sent harassing messages

By Claire Henry

A former surf instructor who sent harassing messages to a family has been given a suspended sentence.

Kevin Murphy (28) of Cliff Road, Windgates, Bray, Co Wicklow, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of harassment and one count of making a threat to kill on dates between July 2021 and July 2022.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that the harassment and threats to kill were sent using various online platforms.

He has no previous convictions.

Passing sentence yesterday, Judge Martin Nolan said “it seems that at a certain point, this man became psychotic and had episodes of psychosis”.

He sent a family “abusive, violent in nature, distressing and worrying messages”.

Judge Nolan said that even when this matter was under investigation, and Murphy had been interviewed by gardaí, he “continued on his merry way messaging the family”.

The judge said Murphy has a good educational background, no record of conviction, and comes from a good family.

Judge Nolan said Murphy caused considerable distress but said, “at this point, he does not deserve to go to prison”.

He sentenced Murphy to two and a half years in prison but suspended it in full under strict conditions.

He also directed Murphy to have no contact whatsoever with any of the injured parties, in this case for 15 years.

Garda Rachel Corcoran told Derek Cooney, BL, prosecuting, that one of the injured parties in the case was in the West of Ireland, learning Irish in 2019.

While she was there, she took surfing lessons, and Murphy was her surfing instructor.

She was aged 16 at the time.

The court heard that her mother travelled to see her daughter and also met Murphy.

In 2021, when the girl had turned 18, she was contacted on social media by Murphy, who said he had been her surfing instructor.

He also made contact with her mother. Over the course of a year, Murphy sent 200 unwanted messages to the family.

Gda Corcoran said the girl’s mother received messages telling her to “kill herself” and to “keep your KKK friends away from me”.

The court heard that graphic sexual text messages and innuendoes were sent to the mother and daughter by Murphy.

He also said he would “clip their car”.

Murphy told one family member to “fuck off back to Israel and Sir Lanka” and called her a “white syphilis bitch”.

He told another member of the family that he had just “clipped a garda car, you’re next”.

Murphy also made threats to kill to the boyfriend of one of the family members.

The mother of the family contacted gardai, and they went to Murphy’s home.

He was initially detained in February 2022 but continued to contact the family with messages of a similar nature.

He was arrested for a second time, detained and interviewed and made admissions to gardai.

He agreed with gardai that some of the messages were “aggressive”.

Garda Corcoran said it became apparent that Murphy had mental health issues.

Gda Corcoran agreed with Eoin Lawlor BL, defending, that his client only contacted the girl after she had turned 18.

She agreed that he was cooperative with the gardai, and he did his best to explain why he did what he did.

The garda agreed with counsel that this offending occurred during an episode of psychosis and that “His communication was undoubtedly alarming for this family, but he did not act on anything”.

Mr Lawlor said, “A big part of this was that he heard voices that commanded him to do things”, and he also “heard voices of this family in his head”.

Counsel said his client voluntarily committed himself to the hospital for four weeks in March 2022.

He said his client was a very sporty young man who was injured in South America and began drinking and drug-taking.

He also asked the court to take into account Murphy’s longstanding work history.