A “vulnerable” teenage boy has been sentenced to eight years’ detention for the attempted murder of a Defence Forces chaplain, whom he repeatedly stabbed after he was exposed to radical Islamist ideas online.
The now 17-year-old, who cannot be identified due to his age, wanted to kill a member of the Irish Defence Forces when he came upon Fr Paul Murphy (52) at Dún Uí Mhaoilíosa, Renmore Barracks in Galway on August 15th, 2024.
The boy, who was 16 years old at the time of the attack, had pleaded guilty last February to the attempted murder of Fr Murphy.
Delivering sentence, Mr Justice Paul McDermott at the Central Criminal Court said the internet is a dangerous place for impressionable teenagers who become “easy prey” to malign groups spreading their “poison”.
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Access to extreme ideas and often graphic and violent sexual content poses a real childcare issue, he said.
Mr Justice McDermott criticised those who advocate for light regulation, saying they ignore the damage done to children.
The defendant in this case is a teenager with no previous convictions who had never before come to the attention of gardaí, he said.
His “distorted thinking” about Islam did not come from his local community but from sources online, in particular the Islamic State terror group.
Individuals who contacted the defendant developed in him a “warped view” of Irish activity in Mali and prompted him to seek revenge against any member of the Defence Forces.
He had been exposed to media footage of the “most grotesque kind”, the judge noted.
Mr Justice McDermott said the defendant was immature and has an obsessive personality. Since the offence, he has been diagnosed with autism.
He developed an interest in Islam at an early age, which became an obsession.
His “extremely unhealthy use of the internet” led him to accept radicalised and violent ideological and religious views, the judge said.
On the day of the attack, he lay in wait for any member of the Defence Forces, the judge said, and did not target Fr Murphy due to his religious role.
When the priest pulled up in his car with his window lowered two-thirds of the way, he was “immediately and savagely attacked” by the defendant with a large knife.
The attack lasted about 90 seconds, the judge said, noting that the boy’s persistence is a “disturbing element” of the crime.
He continued the attack even after a soldier fired warning shots, and it was only the direct intervention of a soldier that brought the attack to an end.
Fr Murphy suffered physical and mental trauma, including permanent scars and wounds to his arm that required surgery.
Mr Justice McDermott said an adult who committed the same crime would face 20 to 25 years in prison.
He set a headline sentence of 20 years, but taking into account the defendant’s age, immaturity, early guilty plea and genuine remorse, he reduced that to 10 years with the final two years suspended for three years.
Outside court on Wednesday, Fr Murphy told reporters: “I think that it’s very easy to fight hatred with hatred and the world just becomes entrenched in hatred and that’s the way the world is at the moment.
“St John says that God is love, and if we believe God to be love, then we know that love is stronger than hate. So, to respond to hate with love will hopefully create a different world for us all to live in. This young boy is going to prison for a few years, my only hope and prayer is that he will return to society better able to manage his own life and also to make a more positive contribution to society.”
