Man admits false imprisonment and assault of his ex-partner at her west Clare home

A 49-year old man has pleaded guilty to the false imprisonment and assault of his ex-partner during a ‘horrifying ordeal’ at her home in west Clare last September.

At Ennis Circuit Court this Thursday, Kevin Murphy - formerly of Querrin, Kilkee, Co. Clare - pleaded guilty to charges arising from an incident which happened at her remote home at Querrin in west Clare on September 5, last.

During the incident, Mr Murphy pushed his ex-partner into a downstairs bedroom and pushed her face-down onto a bed where he restricted her hands with cable ties and tied them behind her back.

At a sitting of the district court last year, Garda Alison White told a bail hearing that the woman was “terrified” that Mr Murphy “was going to rape her or kill her”. 

Bail was refused and Mr Murphy has been in custody since.

In court on Thursday, counsel for Mr Murphy, Pat Barriscale BL asked that the legal aid certificate be extended to cover the preparation of a psychiatric report for his client “as there are some background issues that need to be investigated”.

Mr Barriscale said that Mr Murphy is in custody for these offences alone and that his solicitor, Daragh Hassett is hopeful the psychiatric report can be completed quickly.

Judge Francis Comerford ruled that Mr Murphy can now be named after lifting reporting restrictions on Mr Murphy’s identity that were in place when the case was before the district court.

In doing so, he said that he could see no basis for the reporting restrictions to remain in place.

Sergeant Louis Moloney said at the bail hearing that what occurred was a ‘horrifying ordeal” for the woman.

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Mr Murphy and the injured party had been in a relationship for a number of years and broke up earlier last year.

On the night in question, the two had dinner together but the injury party rejected Mr Murphy’s advances when he tried to kiss her.

Garda White told the bail hearing that as the injured party later left the room and climbed the stairs, she was assaulted by Mr Murphy who pulled her back down the stairs and he punched her in the back of the head twice.

He said that eventually Mr Murphy freed her after around a half an hour and that she was released from the room.

Garda White said that when Mr Murphy fell asleep, the woman texted a friend who notified gardai.

Judge Comerford remanded Mr Murphy in custody until March 8 when a date for sentence will be set.