Michael Murray appeals conviction over Helen McEntee bomb threat

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

Michael Murray lodged an appeal against his conviction for making a false bomb threat to the home of Minister for Justice Helen McEntee on 20 March 2024, a day after he was sentenced to two years in prison.

Murray pleaded not guilty to one count of knowingly making a false report giving rise to an apprehension for the safety of someone else. The offence took place while he was imprisoned in the Midlands Prison, Portlaoise, on 7 March 2021.

An eight-day trial heard that an anonymous caller told the Samaritans he was from the Irish National Liberation Army and that explosives had been planted at McEntee’s home. Gardaí found no explosives. The jury found Murray guilty on 8 March 2024 after five hours and 10 minutes of deliberation.

The court heard that the call was traced to the extension in Murray’s cell, that his unique identification number was used and that he was alone in the cell. Murray admitted making a call to the Samaritans but denied making the threat. He said during the trial that admissions he had made to gardaí concerned a later call, not the bomb threat.

On 19 March 2024, Judge Patricia Ryan sentenced Murray at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to two years in prison, consecutive to the sentence he was already serving. Defence counsel Garret Baker SC asked the court to declare a mistrial, but the judge said she did not have jurisdiction to do so at that stage.

The proceedings were reported on 20 April 2024.