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GARDAI SAY NO TRUTH TO THE REPORTS OF SIGHTINGS OF FEARED RAPIST LARRY MURPHY
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Wednesday August 25 2010
SENIOR GARDAI are this week re-assuring people that notorious rapist Larry Murphy has not been to County Wexford, despite widespread reports at the weekend that he had been seen at locations from Castletown through to Blackwater and Curracloe. Both Superintendent Peter Finn in Enniscorthy and Superintendent Maura Lernihan in Gorey have said there is no truth to the reported sightings, with Supt Lernihan adding that Murphy (pictured right) has at all times been under the supervision of the Sex Offenders Management and Intelligence Unit, based in Dublin.
'I want to assure people that he wasn't here,' she said. 'We know where he is, and he's being managed quite closely.'
THE RESIDENTS of the Beachside estate in Riverchapel found themselves in the local and national media spotlight last Friday, after rumours began to spread that convicted rapist Larry Murphy was living in a house in the estate.
Between 15 and 20 people initially gathered outside one of the cul de sacs in the estate at around 9.45 a.m., and they were soon joined by local residents.
Community activist Joy Rice went door-to-door in Beachside Way, selling raffle tickets, in the hope it could be ascertained which house he was staying in.
However, it was not immediately clear which cul de sac he was supposed to be staying in, and another rumour then suggested he was staying in another estate, Branogue Park. A named house there was checked and found to be empty.
Ms Rice remained concerned, however. 'He was seen on Castletown beach the day before yesterday, and in a cafe in Courtown yesterday,' she claimed, repeating two of the more common rumoured sightings of Murphy.
And with so many rumours doing the rounds, others remained concerned too.
'There's no smoke without fire,' said a worried local woman, as the crowd began to grow along the Avenue in Beachside.
'There are 6,000 people living in Riverchapel, and I can guarantee you every one of them is petrified,' said another woman.
However, others tried to reassure the crowd there was no truth to the rumours.
Cllr Robert Ireton told how the Gardai said they had roughly 150 'sightings' of Murphy telephoned to them on Thursday. 'None of them were true,' he said.
Cllr Jimmy Fleming told people that Gardai in the area would have been notified if Murphy was living in the area, and no such word had been given to them. 'They have told me that themselves. When a senior Guard says he is not here, you have to believe them,' he said.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the Beachside Residents Association said they were concerned at the rumours. 'You can't say it is true when you don't know. The internet is very gossipy too,' she said. 'They put the number of a house and named the estate on the internet.
'We have to live here. There are four houses in this estate now named on the internet as being the place where Larry Murphy is supposed to be staying. Other people own or live in those houses and they don't deserve that. They have done nothing wrong.'
