Judge hands life sentence to mother who killed son

A 42-year-old mother with a chronic alcohol problem today pleaded guilty to the murder of her young son at Greystones, Co Wicklow in June 2001.

When she was arraigned at the Central Criminal Court Ruth Murphy of Alfac House, Newbridge Co Kildare pleaded guilty to the murder of seven-year-old Karl Murphy. The child's body was found at North beach Greystones, Co Wicklow, on June 22, 2001, hours after his father, John, had reported him missing.

Detective Sergeant Malachy Crowley told the court that Ruth Murphy had a serious alcohol problem and was the subject of a barring order in 1998 in relation to the family home at Ashford, Co Wicklow. She was attending a psychiatric hospital.

The couple had married in 1991 and ran a printing business for some years, but the marriage had run into difficulties.

The court heard that Ruth Murphy had supervised access to Karl. On the day in question he was being minded by Ted and Jacinta Walsh in Glenealy, Co Wicklow.

She went to Walsh's house and when Mr Walsh was upstairs and Jacinta Walsh was outside, she took Karl from the house. Ms Murphy then drove to the beach with Karl and they drank Coke and had sandwiches. June 22 was the warmest night of 2001.

Detective Sergeant Crowley told the court that Ruth Murphy was spotted by various people on the cliff side between 9 and 10pm.

At 10.40pm, a scout leader rang gardaí after he had seen a coloured item on the beach and this later turned out be the body of Karl.

Some time after 11pm, Ruth Murphy was found closer to the body in a cave which was near the body of Karl. She was in an "incoherent state" and her clothes were wet.

Mr Paul O'Higgins SC, prosecuting, told the court that a post mortem carried out by State Pathologist, Dr John Harbison, found the child had bruising on his back and shoulders and six "finger sized" bruises on his neck consistent with "forcible drowning".

The court heard that Ruth Murphy had a high alochol level of 123 milligrammes per 100 milligrammes of blood and there were traces of Librium in her system.

During the subsequent investigation, she gave gardaí a number of explanations that were not consistent with the pathological and physical evidence. The detective sergeant said surveys of the scene and of tide and currents rendered these explanations "improbable".

Mr O'Higgins put it to Detective Sergeant Crowley that "Ruth Murphy was in a state of great upset and shock when gardaí came upon her, is that so"?

"That's correct," he replied.

He also agreed that she "was going through a difficult time" and that she had never harmed her child before. The court heard that she was under psychiatric care since the killing.

Mr Justice Paul Carney sentenced Ruth Murphy to the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment dating from 29 December 2003. The judge also directed that a transcript of the proceedings be put on file should the Parole Board require it.

Outside the court, John Murphy thanked family and friends for their help and support and the gardaí for their thorough investigation of his son's killing.

"This has been a tragic case. I'll always remember Karl and his friends. I'm glad this chapter is closed and I can move on from here," he said.