‘Gardai track freed rapist on train trip’ is the headline in this morning’s Irish Independent, who report that convicted rapist Larry Murphy, who was only released from prison on Thursday morning, used his second day of freedom to take a trip to Cork and was shadowed by a team of undercover detectives.
Murphy, whose early release has provoked anger amongst the public in his native town of Baltinglass, co. Wicklow, does not have to provide Gardai with an address until next Thursday, seven days after his release.
Murphy is also the focus of the lead story in the Irish Examiner, who speculate that the 45 year old may be about to leave the country in the wake of the anger that has greeted his release.
According to a report in the paper, Murphy complained to the Gardai after being followed by a gang of motorcyclists on Thursday, while Gardai had to clear a gang of protestors outside a halfway house in Coolock on Wednesday night after they mistakenly believed that Murphy was inside. There has also been a Facebook group set up to track the movements of Murphy since his release.
‘Homeowners in arrears to get further protection’ is the main headline on the front of this morning’s Irish Times. According to the paper, under new proposals by the Financial Regulator, planned changes to the existing code of conduct would make it difficult for banks and building societies to seek repossessions of houses belonging to mortgage holders in arrears.
The new rules would allow home owners in arrears to stay in their homes longer than allowed by the current 12-month moratorium on repossessions and lenders would have to explore all viable options with borrowers in arrears and examine all alternative repayment measures before repossessing a home.
