HIGH COURT REJECTS MURRAY'S CHALLENGE OVER PRISON DISCIPLINE AFTER BIBLE TOSS
Convicted rapist Michael Murray has recently failed in his High Court challenge against a disciplinary sanction imposed by prison authorities.The sanction involved the removal of privileges for 40 days and was applied after he threw a bible at a judge during a sentencing hearing at the Criminal Courts of Justice in July of last year.
During that hearing, Murray was sentenced to 16 years for making threats to prosecutors and harassing trial participants, including his victim.
Murray, formerly of Seafield Road, Killiney, Co Dublin, was being sentenced after being found guilty by a Circuit Criminal Court jury of threatening to kill barristers Dominic McGinn SC and Tony McGillicuddy SC, and for online harassment of these individuals, his victim, and his own former solicitor.
He denied these charges.
Murray was excluded from the sentencing and moved to another courtroom after he threw a bible that narrowly missed the judge.
Before the sentencing incident, Murray had been convicted in 2013 of rape and sexual assault of a woman whose child he abducted.
The threats occurred between late 2014 and early 2015 while he was serving a 19-year sentence for rape.
The disciplinary action was prompted by a complaint from prison officers who attended the court proceedings.
Murray's appeal against the sanction was dismissed, and he later sued the prison governor, claiming the prison authorities had no authority to discipline him for conduct that occurred in court custody, asserting that only a judge could handle such misconduct as contempt of court.
However, the High Court upheld the prison's authority, with Mr Justice Meenan stating that Murray was in lawful custody outside of the prison and fell under the legal definition of a prisoner within the 2007 rules at the time and that the prison governor was entitled to the disciplinary measures.
The case is expected to return for final orders later in the month.
