Simon Harris bomb threat: Rapist ‘prime suspect’ in bomb threat against Taoiseach’s family home

The Sunday World Murray is suspected of using another inmate’s identification number to call the Samaritans from his dock at Midlands Prison.

It is believed the call was made from a mobile phone used by prisoners to call authorised numbers, including the Samaritans helpline.

Murray, who was previously convicted from prison for making a bomb threat to Justice Minister Helen McEntee’s home, is currently serving a 19-year sentence for rape.

Another bomb threat against Helen McEntee, which was passed on to the Samaritans by telephone in April, is said to have been made by an inmate.

This call was traced to an inmate serving a sentence at Wheatfield Prison.

If it turns out that Murray is behind the latest threat, sources said the way in which prisoners access the Samaritans’ helpline would have to be investigated.

Gardaí have been investigating the bomb threat to Mr Harris’s home in County Wicklow since the incident on Wednesday evening.

The investigation is being led by the Garda Special Detective Unit, the government’s counter-terrorism investigative agency.

According to sources, the caller made the threat to the Samaritans helpline shortly before 6 p.m.

He claimed that there was a bomb at Mr Harris’ family home in Wicklow.

The alarm was immediately raised and the Gardaí rushed to the Taoiseach’s house to search for explosive devices.

No device of any kind was found and officials believe the call was a prank.

Mr Harris was in the Dáil at the time, but his wife and young children were at home.

Raising the issue at a summit of EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday, Harris called the threat unacceptable.

“I don’t really want to comment on this other than to say that this is clearly an unacceptable situation.

“I’m not sure the word ‘hoax’ is even appropriate because I have no doubt that these things are done to intimidate and upset. I have young children, I’m married,” he said.

Such threats represent “a truly unacceptable situation,” Harris said, adding that when people show up outside his house, it should not be called a “protest” in media reports.

According to sources, rapist Michael Murray will face severe punishment if it is proven that the call came from him.

Last March, he was sentenced to a further two years in prison for making a fake bomb threat to Ms McEntee’s home from Midlands Prison.

Murray (54), 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 detained in Midlands Prison, Portlaoise on 7 March 2021.

During the eight-day 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 placed at the home of Justice Minister Helen McEntee.

During the trial of hoax bomb maker Michael Murray, a Samaritan volunteer told the court she was “really shocked” when she received a call saying that explosives had been planted at the Attorney General’s family home.

The volunteer said she was on duty on March 7, 2021, 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 that the caller then said: “This is the Irish National Liberation Organisation. Explosives have been planted in the home of the Minister of Justice and her family. The password is Red October. It concerns a court hearing that is taking place in Dublin tomorrow.”

A senior Garda officer told the jury that the call was a serious criminal offence “which could threaten the security of the state”.

Superintendent Dermot Dray said his aim was to establish the telephone number and identity of the person who contacted the Samaritans hotline and made the threat.

He turned to his supervisor and asked him to find out the caller’s number and place of origin.

Two days later he received information that the call had come from Midlands Prison.

Noel Reilly, who worked in the Irish prison service’s IT department at the time, said the call was traced to a number associated with Murray.

He explained that before prisoners can make a call from an Irish prison, they must enter a number allocated to them to access the phone system. He said calls to the Samaritans and lawyers are not recorded.

The court heard that the call to the Samaritans was traced to the extension in Murray’s cell, that his unique identification number was used and that he was alone in his cell that night.

Mr Reilly said he noticed that Murray made the call to the Samaritans at exactly the same time.

When interviewed by the Gardaí, Murray admitted having “known” links to the paramilitary group named in the threat.

The jury was shown video footage of his arrest and Garda interrogation on March 26, 2021.

When asked whether he had been associated with the INLA in the past, Murray replied: “It is common knowledge.”

He said his problem with Ms McEntee was that “she represents a department that does not release material in a defense proceeding.”

He also said that he did not have a personal problem with her, but with the department she represented.

In 2013, Murray was found guilty of kidnapping a mother and her four-year-old son and raping the woman for hours.

He was sentenced to 19 years in prison for this.

He was subsequently sentenced to an additional 16 years in prison for a campaign of harassment and death threats against his victim and the prosecution’s lawyers in that case.