ELECTRONIC TAGGING of convicted sex offenders after their release from prison is unlikely ever to take place in the Republic, according to Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern.
In correspondence to Billy Timmins TD (FG) about the scheduled release from prison today of convicted rapist Larry Murphy, Mr Ahern said a pilot system of electronically tagging criminals was being rolled out.
However, he said there were “legal difficulties” in relation to the tagging of convicted criminals, such as Murphy, who had served their sentences in full.
Mr Ahern said international research into tagging, which is most often used as an alternative to imprisonment, had revealed these difficulties were not unique to Ireland. “Accordingly, even if electronic tagging was currently an established feature (which it is not) of offender management in this jurisdiction, it is unlikely it would be possible to have Mr Murphy tagged.”
Mr Ahern was replying to correspondence from Mr Timmins in which the Fine Gael TD queried why Murphy was being granted remission and if he could be electronically tagged.
On the issue of remission, Mr Ahern said Murphy was entitled to 25 per cent off his sentence as a matter of law. “There is no early release of serious sex offenders, all these type of offenders serve the full sentence that was provided for by the court,” Mr Ahern said. The courts were aware of the remission rates when passing sentence and any suggestion he could intervene in a case to cancel remission was “absolutely nonsense”.
Mr Timmins has consistently raised the case because Murphy comes from Baltinglass, which is in the Wicklow constituency Mr Timmins represents.
Mr Ahern told Mr Timmins in his correspondence that while the release of Murphy was “understandably a cause of concern”, all of the State agencies that deal with the release of sex offenders had held a number of conferences planning for the release.
Under the provisions of the Sex Offenders Act, released sex offenders must inform gardaí where they plan to reside within seven days of their release. They must also notify gardaí of any change of address.
In the event they decide to relocate overseas, which they are entitled to and which Larry Murphy is expected to, they must inform gardaí of their address in that jurisdiction. Gardaí then inform the police service of that country.
Any failure on the part of the offender to comply with these measures is a criminal offence.
Like all sex offenders, Murphy will be monitored by members of the force based in the area where he plans to reside, if he stays in Ireland. All sightings of him and any intelligence received about him will be regularly recorded on the Garda’s computerised Pulse database.
All updates on the system will be sent to the Garda’s sex offenders management and intelligence unit. The unit will liaise with a nominated Garda inspector in the area where Murphy resides to co-ordinate his monitoring and plan any proactive action to be taken against him in the event his behaviour becomes problematic.
In a statement last night explaining its policy in the area, the Garda said its “clear focus at all times is on the safety of all individuals in the community”.
Murphy (45) was jailed for 15 years for rape and attempted murder of a Carlow woman in the Wicklow Mountains in 2000.