CONVICTED RAPIST Larry Murphy will have a week of freedom from prison before he has to inform gardaí where he is living as part of his post-release legal obligations.
The 45-year-old from Baltinglass, Co Wicklow, has been warned by gardaí that his safety may be at risk in the community given the level of media coverage and public debate around his release.
Under the Sex Offenders Act, all convicted offenders must inform gardaí where they plan to reside when they are released from prison. They must also inform gardaí of any subsequent change of address.
These measures are intended to make it easier for gardaí to monitor offenders, particularly those at risk of reoffending.
However, Murphy is not legally obliged to supply his address to gardaí until seven days after his release, after which time non-disclosure would be an offence.
He could claim to be of no fixed abode, making it difficult for gardaí to monitor him.
In that case he would be required to regularly sign on at a Garda station.
Murphy is due to be released from Dublin’s Arbour Hill Prison after serving 10½ years of a 15-year jail term, one year of which was suspended.
He, like all prisoners in Ireland, is entitled to remission equal to one quarter of his sentence.
While his release is scheduled for tomorrow, the Irish Prison Service has in the past released some high-profile inmates a day or two early, if they believe the media or the public plan to gather in large numbers outside the jail to witness the release.
Some members of the media began gathering outside the prison yesterday in anticipation of Murphy being released early.
The married father of two was jailed for 15 years for the repeated rape and attempted murder of a Carlow woman in the Wicklow mountains in February 2000.
He kidnapped his victim from a car park in Carlow town, drove her into the mountains, raped her several times and threw her in the boot of his car with a shopping bag over her head in an apparent attempt to suffocate her.
The woman in her mid-20s was saved when two hunters stumbled upon the scene late at night, causing Murphy to flee in his car.
He was arrested a short time later after one of the men who disturbed the attack recognised Murphy.
He had never come to the attention of gardaí before.
His imminent release has prompted sustained media coverage in recent months. Much of the coverage has suggested he was involved in the disappearance and presumed murders of a number of women in Leinster, including such high-profile cases as Annie McCarrick, Jo Jo Dullard and Deirdre Jacob.
However, a major Garda investigation into all of those cases, Operation Trace, failed to identify any link.
No evidence has emerged to suggest Murphy was responsible.
There have also been calls, most notably from Fine Gael’s Wicklow TD Billy Timmins, for Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern to cancel Murphy’s remission and keep him in prison.
However, there is no basis in law for such a move. A minister for justice can only sanction or refuse the release of a criminal serving a life sentence.
Once a criminal such as Murphy is jailed for a specific term he must be released when the sentence, less remission, is served.
Sinn Féin is holding a meeting in Grangecon tomorrow evening to discuss the concerns of Wicklow residents about Murphy’s release.
The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre has said the coverage of the release would add to the anxiety of all rape victims.
It urged anybody who needed support to contact the centre.
