Convicted rapist Michael Murray has lost a Supreme Court lawsuit over the loss of his prison privileges after throwing a bible at a judge who just sentenced him to 16 years
He threw the Bible, narrowly missing Judge Karen O’Connor, in July 2021 after being convicted of murder threats against his legal team.
The sanction was imposed on him by the governor of Midlands Prison, where he had already served a sentence for rape, after he returned from court. As a result, he lost privileges for 40 days, including restrictions on his free time, restrictions on visits, and limiting phone calls to one per week.
During that Bible-throwing hearing, Murray received a 16-year prison sentence for making threats to the attorneys who prosecuted him, and for harassing others involved in his trial, including his victim.
After the prison sentences were imposed, he challenged the Supreme Court, arguing that any sentence was a matter for a court to hear through contempt. It was not for the prison to do this as he was in the custody of the courts rather than jail at the time, he argued.
In his verdict dismissing Murray’s action against the prison warden, Judge Charles Meenan said the governor was “legally entitled” to punish and punish Murray the way he did.
Murray, 51, formerly of Seafield Road, Killiney in Co Dublin, was convicted in July 2021 having previously been found guilty by a Circuit Criminal Court jury of threatening to kill lawyers Dominic McGinn SC and Tony McGillicuddy SC.
He was also convicted of harassing Mr McGinn, along with his victim and his own former lawyer, by advertising them online as prostitutes.
He had denied the allegations.
Murray was barred from his July 2021 hearing and moved to a different courtroom after throwing the bible at the judge.
He was previously convicted in 2013 of raping and assaulting a woman whose child he kidnapped. Murray made the threats to the parties on dates between late 2014 and early 2015 while serving a 19-year sentence for the rape.
Following his conduct at the sentencing hearing, a complaint about his conduct was made to the Governor of Midlands Prison by prison officers who had attended the court.
After a disciplinary process, Murray was ordered to lose 40 days of privileges.
Murray’s internal appeal of the sanction to the Prison Service Directorate of Operations was rejected.
Mr Justice Meenan said that while Murray was liable to penalties for contempt of court after throwing the Bible, this did not prevent disciplinary sanctions under the 2007 Prison Rules from being applied to him.