John Murphy gets suspended sentence for false bomb reports

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

John Murphy received a fully suspended three-year sentence for making false reports at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on 17 January 2024.

Judge Martin Nolan ordered Murphy to be of good behaviour for the three-year period. The judge said Murphy had caused emergency services to react and created inconvenience and stress for many people.

Murphy pleaded guilty to three counts of making a false report relating to dates in August and October 2022. One other count was taken into consideration.

The report said Murphy used a mobile phone registered in his name and, on one occasion, gave his name while making a bomb claim. Garda Carl Howard told the prosecuting counsel that calls led to Garda deployments and the evacuation of 48 people; Murphy said he did not remember one call.

Defence counsel said Murphy had been homeless for about a decade, had secured his first home in 2020, was attending addiction counselling and had not recently come to Garda attention. Counsel argued that imprisonment would make him lose the stability of his home.

The proceedings were reported on 17 January 2024.