Prisoner on trial for murder restrained

A Mountjoy prisoner on trial for the murder of a cellmate had to be restrained when he got upset in court today.

The trial had earlier heard the prosecution counsel allege that Laurence Murphy stuck a dinner knife three inches into his cellmate Thomas Brady’s chest as he lay in bed.

In the Central Criminal Court, Murphy, aged 24, who is from Swilly Road, Cabra, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of Thomas Brady, aged 22, in Cell 18, A3 Landing, Mountjoy Prison, on April 23, 2000. Thomas Brady’s last address was Rowlagh Crescent, Neilstown, Dublin.

Proceedings were disrupted this afternoon when Laurence Murphy began remonstrating with prison officers in court. He had to be restrained by five officers when he began shouting, ‘Let me out of here’.

The jury was sent to its room by Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns and when the court reconvened fifteen minutes later, he told the jurors that Mr Murphy was "overcome by stress" and he was granting an adjournment of the trial until tomorrow to allow him to recover his composure.