Man accused of phoning in Justice Minister bomb scare admitted he had links with INLA

By David O’Sullivan

A man accused of phoning in a bomb scare to the Minister of Justice’s home admitted in garda interview to having “well-known” links to the paramilitary group named in the threat.

Michael Murray (52), formerly of Seafield Road, Killiney, Dublin, has 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 jury has heard that an anonymous caller claiming to be from the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) phoned the Samaritans saying explosives had been planted at the home of the Minister of Justice, Helen McEntee.

No explosives were found, but the call was traced to the Midlands Prison.

The person who made the call used a unique identification number registered to Mr Murray.

He was alone in his prison cell with access to a telephone on the night, the court has heard.

Video footage of gardai interviewing Mr Murray after his arrest on March 26, 2021 was played to the jury yesterday.

“You have a bit of a history with the criminal justice system,” one of the gardai said to Mr Murray at the outset of the interview.

When asked if he had been aligned with the INLA in the past, Mr Murray responded: “That’s well known.”

During the course of the interview, Mr Murray said he had previously been imprisoned with political prisoners due to this association.

He also said he had made an unsuccessful application to the High Court to be released as part of the Good Friday Agreement.

Gardai asked him if he disagreed with what was going on in the State today, and Mr Murray responded that he had a problem with the DPP office and that it was a “constant fight” to get evidence when you’re a defendant.

“It’s harder to run a criminal trial than it is to commit a fucking bank robbery these days,” he said, “Our State is run on lies and deceit and it’s the same as the criminal justice system.”

He said his issue with Ms McEntee is that “she represents a department that does not release material in a defence trial.”

He said that he has no personal problem with her, but with the Department she represents.

When gardai asked him if he rang the Samaritans and phoned in the bomb threat, the interview footage shows him laughing and responding: “Oh man, are you serious?”

The investigating gardai put to Mr Murray that technical examination and tracing of the phone call had them satisfied that the phone call came from his cell at the time of the threat, and that nobody else could have made the call because he was alone in his cell at the time.

He denied the allegations and said the gardai were “bleeding off your heads.”

Mr Murray said he regularly called the Samaritans and had “no problem” that he called them on the day of the bomb threat.

He said they discussed how he was feeling “a bit down” and that he was in court the following day.

Earlier in the interview, Mr Murray discussed his previous convictions with the gardai.

He said he “started crime in the early 80s” and was convicted of a “serious amount of armed robberies.”

The court also heard Mr Murray pulled a firearm on someone in the Mater hospital, had been on the run in Liverpool after robbing two banks in Cork and had set up escort agencies while imprisoned.

In the interview, Mr Murray also described how in 2010, a woman said he had kidnapped her off the street with her son.

That woman said Mr Murray held her in an apartment, attacked and raped her over a period of hours.

There was a trial following this and Mr Murray was convicted and initially sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.

The sentence was appealed for “undue leniency” and increased to 19 years.

Mr Murray told the investigating gardai that there was video proof that he had not kidnapped the woman.

He said there was footage of her following him through the area.

“During the course of the trial, the prison services admitted that they intercepted a call to my lawyers,” said Mr Murray in the footage.

“Why would people go through the bother of intercepting the phone call?”

He asked his defence solicitor to report the matter to the Law Society and gardai, but she responded that she “didn’t want to get involved.”

At the time of the garda interview, Mr Murray said he had an upcoming trial for threats to kill and harassment.

The complainants included this solicitor and two barristers who had been involved in his prosecution.

The threats and harassment had been via phone call and by placing ads using their details on websites, the court heard.

The court heard Mr Murray was in the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin on these matters on March 8, 2021, the day after the threat had been made.

“When’s the book come out?” asked one of the gardai at one stage, “It’d make a good read. I’d buy it.”

The trial continues before Judge Patricia Ryan and a jury.