A man accused of phoning in a bomb threat to the house of Minister Helen McEntee has been found guilty by a jury.
The jury in the trial returned the verdict today after five hours and 10 minutes of deliberation. Murray made no reaction as the verdict was handed down in court. Judge Patricia Ryan thanked the jurors for their service and adjourned the matter for sentencing next Friday. She remanded Murray in continuing custody.
The woman told the court the voice spoke “slowly, carefully and calmly.” She said it didn't sound like the voice of a teenager or someone in their 20s and she thought it could be a Dublin accent. Sgt McGarry said he received a phone call at 10pm saying everything appeared to be in order and that no suspect devices had been found. Gardai also examined the Department of Justice for any suspect devices in the vicinity and nothing untoward was recovered.
Noel Reilly, who worked in the IT department of the Irish Prison Service at the time, said the call was traced back to a number associated with Murray. In cross examination, he agreed with Garret Baker SC, defending, that it was possible for someone to use another prisoner's phone number and that he was relying on numbers rather than actual identities or CCTV footage.
“It's harder to run a criminal trial than it is to commit a fucking bank robbery these day,” he said. “Our State is run on lies and deceit and it's the same as the criminal justice system.” Murray also told gardai that there was a group called the Criminal Revenge Group which was making “credible” and “immediate” threats. He said that members of the group included convicts and former paramilitary members of the INLA who weren't imprisoned.
Detective Garda Patrick Muldowney told the court that Murray later contacted gardaí through his solicitor on August 9, 2021 and made admissions.