Macarthur prepares for High Court freedom bid

One of the state’s longest-serving and most notorious prisoners is expected to make a High Court bid for his release tomorrow.

Malcolm Macarthur is serving a life sentence for the murder of 27-year-old nurse Bridie Gargan after he bludgeoned her to death while she was sunbathing in Dublin’s Phoenix Park in July, 1982.

He is also believed to have killed Co Offaly farmer Donal Dunne three days later, however, the State withdrew the charges in that case.

Macarthur’s arrest at the home of the then Attorney General Patrick Connolly sent shockwaves through the country and sparked a major political scandal.

He is now in his 24th year of imprisonment, having been moved two years ago to Shelton Abbey open prison to be assessed for release.

In 2004, his legal representatives began moves to force the Government to allow his release on the parole board’s advice.

They are expected to argue in the High Court tomorrow that it is the role of the judicial system, and not Government, to rule on whether a prisoner is fit for release or not.

It is believed the state will give evidence in its defence that the parole board’s advice is not the sole consideration of the Minister for Justice when ruling on a prisoner’s release.

It is understood Macarthur, who has been regarded as a model prisoner, will not be in court for tomorrow’s hearing.

Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has removed himself from the case because of his involvement in the original trial and handed over responsibility to defence minister Willie O’Dea.

Although from a wealthy Anglo-Irish family in Co Meath, Macarthur had money problems and was attempting to steal Ms Gargan’s car 24 years ago as part of a bizarre plot to rob a bank before he murdered her.

He then travelled to buy a shotgun from Mr Dunne, shot the man and stole his car to return to Dublin, where he went to the Dalkey apartment of his friend and then Attorney General.

Mr Connolly was unaware at the time Macarthur was the subject of a nationwide manhunt by gardaí.

When he was arrested at the apartment, in one of Ireland’s most exclusive addresses, there was public uproar.

Then Taoiseach Charles Haughey famously described the events as ‘grotesque, unbelievable, bizarre and unprecedented’, which gave birth to the acronym GUBU.