Wexford man pleaded guilty to what the circuit court judge described as a ‘pretty horrendous crime’
Defendant David Murphy, address given in court as Shingán, Enniscorthy, Co Wexford received favourable testimony from the detective who investigated the case. And he also had the benefit of entering a guilty plea to the charge of falsely imprisoning a man called Jamie Murphy in 2022.
The prosecution case was summed up in the Circuit Court by Detective Garda Martin Brauders. He explained how Jamie Murphy was discovered on the forecourt of the service station in Tomnalossett outside Enniscorthy on August 22, 2022.
He had no shoes or socks on, while he had blood on his clothing and his hands were cable tied. Grace O’Brien, who was working in the shop, provided him with a bottle of Coke and a lift into town was arranged.
The man seemed keen to return to Enniscorthy and did not wish to have the matter reported to the guards. He was staying at the time in a house in Irish Street, Enniscorthy.
Gardaí were told about the incident but failed to make contact with Jamie Murphy on the night. However, they became aware a few days afterwards that he was being held in Cloverhill Prison.
He was interviewed there and he made a statement recalling that he was at home on the evening in question.
After receiving a phone call, he expected the vehicle which pulled up outside the door in Irish Street. He got into the van which was driven out to the water treatment plant at St John’s, on the outskirts of Enniscorthy town.
It turned out that David Murphy was in the back of the van as they headed over the bridge at Killurin. Crossing the N11 they stopped somewhere around Glenteigue in Glenbrien.
Wexford Courthouse.
Jamie Murphy found himself tied up and assaulted before the van made its way back across the Slaney to Tomnalossett.
His shoes and socks were removed. The van stopped and he managed to make his exit from the vehicle and run into a garden over the road from the servicer station. He hid behind a shed until the van drove off.
David Murphy was subsequently arrested and interviewed in relation to the matter. He described the victim as a scumbag and expressed concerns about Jamie Murphy’s dealings with his bereaved sister-in-law.
The detective said David Murphy, married father of two, was someone he had a good regard for. He was in full-time employment for many years.
It appeared that David Murphy took action in the belief that Jamie Murphy was financially exploiting his late brother’s partner Josephine Kennedy.
The defendant admitted giving the kidnapped man a couple of punches to the head.
Defending barrister Colman Cody accepted that his client made a serious error of judgement on the night in question. It appeared that he had been motivated by a misguided sense of justice for his late brother’s partner.
David Murphy
Mr Cody was concerned that Jamie Murphy gave a patently false account to the guards of why David Murphy acted as he did. The allegation was that the kidnap was an attempt to steal a stash of drugs. Detective Brauders confirmed that the defendant had never been on garda radar for drug dealing.
Judge James McCourt described the abduction as a form of vigilantism and a pretty horrendous crime. The court was concerned that it was premeditated.
Yet the judge was mindful of the evidence of the detective and felt that sending David Murphy to jail would no be in the interest of society.
A two-year prison sentence was suspended in full once the defendant agreed to be bound to the peace.