Garda Lorcan Murphy jailed for one year for assaults on teenager

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Garda Lorcan Murphy was jailed for one year after being sentenced at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to three years, with the final two years suspended, for assaulting a teenager. Judge Pauline Codd imposed the sentence on 3 February 2026.

Murphy, of Pearse Street Garda Station, pleaded not guilty to two counts of assault causing harm. A jury found him guilty of both counts after a trial in July 2025. The assaults took place on Essex Street and at Pearse Street Garda Station on 1 June 2021, when the injured party was 17.

The teenager suffered a fractured skull and brain bleed after Murphy used a leg sweep to bring him to the ground while he was handcuffed. He fully recovered. Murphy also assaulted him at the station by pulling his hair and applying pressure to his chest.

During the trial, Murphy claimed the leg sweep was a legitimate containment technique he had been trained to use and that the chest rub at the station was a first aid technique. The jury rejected those explanations. Judge Codd said the force used was unnecessary and disproportionate.

The judge imposed the sentence for the first offence and took the station assault conviction into account. She made no order for an offered €10,000 compensation to be paid, saying it would not benefit the injured party at that time because of his addiction issues. The court was told he did not want to take part in restorative justice.