State to defend GUBU murderer’s release bid

A HIGH Court challenge by convicted murderer Malcolm MacArthur to his continuing imprisonment will be responded to by the State within three weeks with a file, the High Court was told yesterday.

MacArthur was jailed for life in 1982 for the murder of nurse Bridie Gargan in Dublin’s Phoenix Park and is now in his 24th year of imprisonment. He is detained at Shelton Abbey open prison.

In late 2004, legal proceedings were initiated challenging the failure to release him despite a parole board recommendation that he should be moved to an open prison, a recommendation perceived as a prelude to eventual release.