A Defence Forces chaplain who was repeatedly stabbed by a teenage boy motivated by "a radicalised Islamic mindset" today told his attacker that he forgives him, with the priest and the defendant later embracing in the courtroom.
Delivering an emotional victim impact statement today, Father Paul Murphy said there was no doubt but that he was "the right person, in the right place, at the right time" on the night of the attack and "out of all the members of our Defence Forces I was best placed to take the knife".
He added: "I thank God every single day that the knife tore through my skin, and not through the body of one of my comrades. I consider it an honour and a privilege to carry those scars until my dying day".
Turning to the 17-year-old boy in the dock as he read his statement, Fr Murphy said that he was "in the business of forgiveness" and offered "the young man standing accused before me, the forgiveness that will hopefully help you to become a better person. I believe you are 17 now so you will hopefully have another 80 years of living on this earth".
At this point, the teenage boy interrupted the priest and said aloud: "I'm sorry". The pair were seen to embrace after today's sentence hearing, when the priest talked to his attacker in the dock.
The boy appeared at the Central Criminal Court today for his sentence hearing, having pleaded guilty last February to the attempted murder of Fr Murphy (52) at Dún Uí Mhaoilíosa, Renmore Barracks in Galway on August 15, 2024. The defendant was 16 at the time of the attack and cannot be identified due to his age.
The victim, a popular chaplain with the 1st Infantry Battalion, suffered multiple stab wounds in the attack while he sat in his car. He was treated for his injuries at University Hospital Galway.
Today's sentencing heard that the boy had "lunged" at the priest with a hunting knife and stabbed him repeatedly. The priest suffered "multiple severe lacerations" to both his arms and there were seven wounds in total. The court heard that the jeep got 20 metres inside the gate of the barracks but as the vehicle moved the teenager moved with it trying to stab Fr Murphy.
The boy told gardai when arrested: "I did it to protest the Irish Defence Forces and their work in Mali and all the stuff for Islam", the Central Criminal Court has heard.
The chaplain also said in this statement: "Life is for living and for loving and I promise you, your life will find its ultimate joy when you live honourable and love generously".
The priest said while he can ultimately forgive his attacker the teenager had committed "an appalling crime", which had offended the State, the Irish Defence Forces and "every single soldier who has walked through the gate of our barracks, because it could have been any one of them who was stabbed".
Fr Murphy told the boy he hoped he learned to see "the error of his ways" so that when the time comes he could return to society to make a positive contribution to the world and become a "wholesome, happy and loving person".
The victim of the attempted murder told the court he was just an ordinary priest and was honoured to bear the wounds that scar his skin.
The sentencing hearing for the teenager also heard today that it was a "totally indiscriminate attack" and it could have been any member of the defence forces.
During today's sentence hearing, Detective Sergeant Paul McNulty agreed with Michael Delaney SC, prosecuting, that when gardai seized the boy's laptop, iPad and phone and got production orders for his email and social media accounts. They found "a lot of the content was suggestive of a radicalised Islamic mindset" and supportive of the Islamic State and the terrorist group ISIS. The teenager had a particular interest in British ISIS activist 'Jihadi John', the court heard.
Items seized by detectives in the boy's bedroom included a poster with Arabic writing saying "God is great", the Islamic state flag and sketches depicting beheadings.
The youth had confirmed to gardai he had "reverted" to Islamic faith at 15 years of age and had writings in a notebook of Islamic prayers and how to be a devout Muslim. The boy also regularly attended Friday prayers at a mosque.
The boy's defence counsel, Sean Gillane SC, said that there was nothing in his client's life or forensic history to alert anyone that he would be involved in an offence of this nature. "Over a period of time he began to become part of an online community even though it was the opposite of a community in any real sense," he added.
The defence barrister said the actions of the boy, who is on the "autism spectrum", was an attempt to seek some sort of revenge on the Irish Defence Forces due to a "misconceived conclusion" he had arrived at, which was inspired by others.
Addressing the judge in mitigation, Mr Gillane said: "If you did hear him [the boy] say sorry during the victim impact statement, he is sorry and I ask that you deal with him as leniently as you possibly can". Mr Justice Paul McDermott remanded the boy to Oberstown Detention Centre until April 29, when he will be sentenced.
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