Islamist-inspired attack highlights 'enormous consequences' of extremist websites

Irish Examiner

29-04-2025

In what is the first known Islamist-inspired attack in Ireland, a judge was warned of 'enormous consequences' if violent and extremist websites are allowed to 'spread their poison' to children.
Mr Justice Paul McDermott handed down eight years to a 17-year-old boy for the attempted murder of military chaplain, Fr Paul Murphy, at 10.40pm on August 15, 2024.
Aged 16 at the time, the boy attacked the priest for 90 seconds with an eight-inch hunting knife that had a serrated blade.
Sentencing at the Central Criminal Court, the judge said it could have been a fatality were it not for the intervention of soldiers at Renmore Barracks in Galway.
Video footage of the attack showed the boy hanging on to Fr Murphy's car as it rolled through the barrack's gate into the complex, repeatedly raising his hand high and stabbing through the partially open window.
He inflicted seven deep wounds across the chaplain's arms, but did not puncture his neck, heart or major arteries.
It is the first publicly-known violent attack in Ireland motivated by extremist jihadist propaganda.
Judge McDermott said the boy converted to Islam at age 14 but that he appeared to teach himself through 'obsessive engagement' with online extremist sites.
'He was, in effect, radicalised,' the judge said.
The boy told gardaí his attack was in protest at the presence of the Irish Defence Forces in Mali, west Africa, and 'all the stuff in Islam'.
When gardaí searched the family home they found an ISIS, or Islamic-state, flag, in his bedroom as well as a notebook with sketches of beheadings. They found actual videos of Islamic state beheadings in some of his digital devices.
The court had heard the boy would not give the PIN to a phone he had on him at the time of the attack - meaning gardaí could not access it.
The judge said this case was not the first involving young people carrying out physical or sexual attacks after viewing violent material online.
He said children are 'easy prey' to so-called influencers on social media. He said this also applied to people propagating 'extreme political or religious views'.
The judge said these sites have 'open access' to children, to 'spread their poison', adding:
There are very real and important childcare protection issues and quite enormous consequences if not addressed effectively, as this case shows.
In his victim impact statement given earlier this month, Fr Murphy told the boy that he 'forgave' him and hoped he would become 'a better person'. The chaplain approached the boy after the hearing and put his arm around his shoulder and spoke to him.
After Tuesday's appearance, Fr Murphy again approached the boy, held his hand, and placed another hand on his shoulder and had a chat.
The boy nodded and spoke some words and, like at the previous sitting, thanked the priest.
The boy's father shook Fr Murphy's hand and said: 'Thank you so much.'
Earlier, Mr Justice McDermott said the priest, who was wearing civilian clothes at the time of the attack, just happened to be the first person the boy met at the gates that night.
He said the CCTV footage of the attack was 'dramatic and shocking' and said the priest was 'savagely attacked'.
Mr Justice McDermott said Fr Paul Murphy, who was wearing civilian clothes at the time of the attack, just happened to be the first person the boy met at the gates that night. Picture: Collins Courts
The judge said that 'another disturbing element' was how 'persistent' the boy was and that he was 'determined to complete his mission'.
The attack continued for 90 seconds over a total distance of 25 metres. The judge said that even the five warning shots fired by soldiers had little effect on the boy, but that he was momentarily distracted, allowing the soldiers to disarm him.
The judge said an aggravating factor was that the duties Defence Forces' personnel discharge is 'in service of the State'.
He set the headline sentence at 20 years, but said he had to take into account the boy's age and that he had 'significant traits' of autism spectrum disorder, which was undiagnosed at the time.
Judge McDermott said the boy had an 'obsessive personality' and was 'socially awkward and isolated'. He reduced the 20-year sentence down to 13 years.
In mitigation, he took into account the early plea of guilty, the boy's remorse and his engagement with services.
He said the boy had no prior convictions and said he would find imprisonment challenging. This brought his detention down to ten years. Taking into account a desire for rehabilitation the judge suspended two years — for a period of three years from release — bringing his final sentence to eight years.
The boy, now almost 17 and a half, will serve the next year in Oberstown Children Detention Centre, then he has to be transferred to an adult prison.
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