Rapist Michael Murray complains he is being blamed for bomb threats against the Taoiseach

Rapist Michael Murray complained to the Irish Mirror that he was now being blamed for a fake bomb threat against the Irish Prime Minister.

Murray, speaking to us from behind bars, protested his innocence in the recent bomb threat to Simon Harris’ home last month and complained that the media was putting him in the picture. “Every time there seems to be a bomb threat, it ends up on my doorstep,” he said.

“I was not arrested in the two most recent threats, but the media keeps saying I was.” Murray also denied being behind two similar recent threats against Attorney General Helen McEntee.

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Today we can announce that Murray, who already has a previous conviction for a similar bombshell call against Ms McEntee, has now been formally disciplined by prison authorities in connection with a phone call he is alleged to have made from an official prison phone in late June.

According to sources, Murray, who is also serving a 19-year sentence for rape, was found guilty of breaching prison rules by misusing the service phone when calling the Samaritans helpline that day. Exactly what was said in that call is now the subject of the Garda investigation into the alleged prank call, also made to the Samaritans, which required officers to call Mr Harris’ home that day.

However, we have learned that prison authorities have officially issued Murray with what is known as a P19 form – meaning he has been punished with restrictions on visiting hours and phone calls. Murray has insisted to authorities that he did not make the call, which Mr Harris described last month as “totally unacceptable”.

“I’m staying at home. This is a clearly unacceptable situation. I’m not sure the word hoax is the right word because I have no doubt that these things are done to intimidate and upset,” the Taoiseach said. “I have young children and I’m married. This is a completely unacceptable situation. I think, and I say this with all due respect, that we all need to think in our discourse, including the media, about how we sometimes comment on these matters.

Murray had previously “vehemently denied” any involvement in the recent threats against Justice Minister Helen McEntee and wished her no ill will. Minister McEntee’s family had to be evacuated from their home after two fake bomb threats were made against the Samaritans charity – the bomb threats were allegedly placed at her home.

“I vehemently deny having been involved in this and I did not encourage anyone to do so,” Murray said at the time. He added: “I have no problems with Helen McEntee.”

Murray was recently convicted of a threatening phone call he made to the Samaritans from Midlands Prison – and which was directed at the minister.

The depraved beast (52), formerly of Seafield Road, Killiney, Dublin, had pleaded not guilty to one count of knowingly making a false report giving rise to fear for the safety of another person while incarcerated in Midlands Prison, Portlaoise, on 7 March 2021.

He continues to claim he was not behind the threat – despite openly admitting to us in an earlier interview in August of that year that he was. “I openly admit it. I am responsible for it. I don’t give a damn,” Murray told us at the time. Still, Murray led the state through the grueling process of an eight-day trial – after pleading not guilty despite overwhelming evidence.

At his trial, it was revealed that an anonymous caller had phoned the Samaritans claiming to be from the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) and said explosives had been planted in Ms McEntee’s home. Murray took the witness box and told the court he did not make the bomb threat and claimed the allegation against him “does not make any sense”.

He said the idea that he would make a threat to the “highest ranking” member of the Justice Department from his cell while in isolation and on a monitored line was “absolutely ridiculous.” “The central issue in this case is one phone call. I could have come here to the jury and kept everything secret. I did not choose to do that. I knowingly told the jury the truth,” Murray said.

The jury might never have known who Michael Murray was if I wanted to go down that route. But this is about the truth of a decision. “Some people may not like Michael Murray, (but) that’s not what this is about. It’s not a talent contest. It’s about a threat to national security. It’s not a personality contest,” he said.

The court was shown videos of interviews between police and the defendant conducted on March 26, 2021. In them, he said that a group called the “Criminal Revenge Group” was behind the threat – and that he could negotiate with them to make it stop. The defendant also told police that it was “nothing personal” and he would “not like to see” Ms McEntee get hurt – and further claimed that the decision to make the call had been made about a week earlier.

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