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THE MAN WHO was mistaken for a notorious child abuser has described how he had been planning on moving to Monasterevin before he was pursued by a mob who followed him in the town on Friday.
David Murray was falsely identified as convicted child abuser Anthony Luckwill when his photo was wrongly shared by a commenter on the Facebook page of Kildare Now under an article about Luckwill being in the area.
Murray was then confronted by a group of six adults, aged in their late 30s to mid 40s, who verbally abused him outside Supervalu at around 7.30 on Friday evening.
He told TheJournal.ie that he has only slept for about six hours since the altercation between himself and locals in the Kildare town three days ago.
Murray was followed by the group as he walked to a local pub he knew and went inside to call the gardaí.
He told this website that he has been to Monasterevin about eight times over the past two months looking for a place to live.
I thought the people were very friendly and I was just trying to figure out where things were location wise.
Asked how he feel about Monasterevin now, he said, “I would never feel safe there.”
Vile, verbal abuse
Describing how he felt when wrongly confronted by the group on Friday evening, Murray said, “I didn’t even understand what they were saying at first.”
He repeatedly told them they were mistaken and asked for the gardaí be called to sort out the situation, but he said the group dismissed his suggestion and said they wouldn’t do that.
When he told them he was an innocent person and that accusations against an innocent person was a serious offence, Murray said they responded by saying, “What are you going to do about it?”
Mobs don’t stop to think and they don’t stop to reconsider and they don’t stop to listen.
“They subjected me to vile verbal abuse, although they were too cowardly to directly physically engage me.
I walked to Finlay’s pub on Dublin Street in the town, while being followed in a car and on the footpath and onlookers on the street were requested to join the mob following me.
Murray called 999 in the pub and waited for the gardaí to arrive. He said that, “One of the ring-leaders of the vigilante mob entered the pub and took several photos of me on his mobile phone”.
Two gardaí arrived 40 minutes later and established his identity before escorting him outside to their patrol car.
‘Self-appointed vigilantes’
Murray said that when he went outside with the gardaí, around 30 people had gathered outside the pub.
He was driven to Kildare garda station and then back to his home in Dublin. Murray said:
I am extremely concerned about how I was accused and harassed, but most of all I am alarmed that photos taken of me in Finlay’s pub are being spread on social media by self-appointed vigilantes.
“I cannot possibly express how angry I am at what happened and how idiots took it upon themselves to ‘protect the community’ by completely ignoring my basic legal rights and doing everything short of physically assaulting me en masse.
No one has any right or competence to take the law into their own hands. No one has any right to post a photo of anyone on the internet/social media and claim the photo is of a convicted and notorious paedophile and no one has any possible excuse for what was done to me.
Murray told TheJournal.ie that the person who first mistakenly identified him as Luckwill should have gone to gardaí instead.
“They should have reported a sighting to the gardaí, saying they saw this person in such a place and at such a time, please check this out.”
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They really broke their heart with a 1 cent drop per minute.
Sorry, I don’t understand this article. What’s a holiday?
Croatia joins the EU on Monday too, this money making scheme will be gone totally by next year. It’s great news for the consumer and puts a ceiling on networks fleecing us.
So it’s going to cost me less to make a phone call when I’m abroad than when I’m at home in Ireland? I’m paying 35c per call and 15c per text!!? Surely this isn’t right?
Sounds like your being ripped off there!
Yeah that’s true, but the networks also do not apply free-with-topup promotions while roaming.
That’s the reason domestic prices are as high as they are: the networks compete on the promotions, not the base prices.
This won’t apply to me because my woman will still spend a fortune… ‘roaming’ around the shops on a Saturday.
Who in their right mind uses data downloading while roaming? Have they not heard of free WiFi? Whatsapp?
Local SIM card?
That’s all very well, Alan, if you happen to be in a wifi zone. But this isn’t just about holiday makers checking their Facebook page or sending What’s App messages. There are also big implications for companies whose staff travel regularly abroad to conduct business. This can be a huge expense, so the moves to eliminate roaming costs can only be a good thing for the economy too.
I’ve been known to knock it on when I lose my bearings walking around.
The rates for Data are still pretty scandalous.
I do and quite a lot.. In the uk, I’m a 3 customer… But we set up wifi zones using our phones when presenting to clients… You can’t trust that they will have a guest network or that it stops emails and stuff… I would love three ‘like home’ feature was available all over Europe… Great in countries that have them… Agreed to go to Italy on holidays because it has it over Spain…
Still too high!
So it’s now cheaper to ring Scandinavia than to use my ATM card.
They’re not the same thing. What’s your point?
Are these VAT-exclusive prices the same across the EU? On arriving in Denmark a few days ago, my Finnish operator texted me to say calls were 36c/min., incoming calls 10c/min. and text messages 11c. VAT in Finland is 24%.
The tariff is charged by your domestic network (Vodafone, O2, Three or Meteor) so it’s subject to VAT at Irish levels. But yes, when the VAT is excluded, the prices should be the same across the EU.
As of right now, the limits are 70c per MB of data, 29c to make calls, 8c to receive calls, and 9c to send texts. If you add on the 23% Irish VAT, you’d get the prices you were quoted.
From Monday, exclusive VAT, these would fall to 45c per MB, 24c to make a call, 7c to receive it, and 8c for a text. Adding in the VAT this becomes 55c per MB, 29.5c to make a call, 8.6c to receive it, and 9.8c for a text.
On arriving in France a few days ago my ‘welcome message’ told me that calls would be 79c/min to make and receive – where did the 29c/min figure come from?
Eh, the law. Who’s your domestic provider?
Vodafone
Welcome to France from Vodafone Ireland! You ‘re signed up to Vodafone Passport for Calls and getting great value. If you want to use the internet on your phone, text DATA to 50020 and save even more. Here ‘s how the costs work. Calls to home or within France: your usual out of bundle rate + 79c, to receive calls: 79c. BlackBerry or mobile internet (without Passport): 86c per MB, with opting in to PASSPORT MOBILE INTERNET: 2 per day for 50MB. Texts: free to receive and 11c to send. Promotion and inclusive minutes can’t be used while roaming. Our T&C ‘s are on Vodafone.ie and for Emergency Services dial 112. If you have any questions or would like prepay Top Up please call our FREE Roaming Care number +35312038232
Hardly big news. You’d swear they were abolishing it.
mattoid, that’s not 79c per minute
You’ve signed up for a tariff by which you pay a fixed 79c connection fee to make a call before paying at your normal rates (the rate you’d have at home if you used up all of your minutes)
Similarly, you pay a 79c connection fee when receiving a call, and then nothing.
This is a good deal if you plan to make long calls while abroad. If you’re making calls of less than 3 minutes, and receiving calls of less than 8 minutes, this is costing you more than if you opted out of Vodafone passport
Guys don’t know where you are getting your figures from but 3 have different ideas on present charges
From Three: EU to EU: It’s 35.67c p/m to make calls; 9.84c p/m to receive; 11.07c to send SMS, 50.82c for MMS & max 86.10c/MB to use web. Free info +353833333330. Emergency No 112. Rates apply unless opted into other preferential roaming rates.
Good news for everyone working in the EU too, with their Irish phone on all the time so your Mammy can ring/text you :-) Now we can answer it instead of always saying “she’ll kill me but I can’t answer it, costs a fortune” running around looking for your other phone/ house phone/ someone else’s phone to ring back :-)
Why roam when u can get a local simcard? Tourist sims are v cheap.
I agree for a long time away (over a week), but if you’re only away a few days then buying and topping up a sim isn’t worth it.
Any one know if thats a set rate im currently getting charged 34c for outgoing and 12c for incoming +vat in the uk off 3 ireland
So, from an unofficial, but effective rip off cartel pricing structure, we move to a marginally less, but now officially sanctioned rip off cartel emulating system.
I wonder if there’ll be some nice little career or semi-retirement upgrades for some people who may, or may not, have had anything to do with this ‘deal’ ?
‘Free Markets Ideology’ ? Competition ? The hypocrisy just drips off them.
That’s very unfair. Neelies Kroes has worked tirelessly on this issue for years. I’ve watched her progress in battling against the roaming charges for years.
The only reason the prices are fixed is because she keeps bringing them down. No-one is going to offer below the max for roaming because it’s always been a cashcow, and it’s harder to regulate when you’re technically not fixing with your competitors, just charging the max you can get away with.
Don’t forget Viviane Reding. She introduced the whole idea of regulation.
The whole reason they brought in regulation was precisely because competition was not working. And it was particularly difficult to stimulate competition, because of the nature of roaming (a network cannot reduce prices below what the roaming network will offer them at).
It was hugely disadvantageous to smaller networks with their limited negotiating position, while larger networks (Vodafone, Orange, Telefónica etc.) were making a killing.
You can even see it in the reactions to the initial introduction to the price limits. Vodafone and O2 Ireland both denounced it, while Meteor welcomed it.
Hopefully this will happen for across the Atlantic too.
Was in Canada for a week recently and my costs ran to €340.
Had rang provider before I left to enquire about costs and, apart from him being the rudest and most obnoxious man I ever spoke to in any company, he gave the impression he was delighted that I would be paying €4.99 per megabyte.
local sim is the only way to go in North America… or get a prepaid mifi device and use that (which is what I do for my non US phones in the US and my non UK phones in the UK and my non IE phones in IE #havetogowheretheworkis #theivingmobileoperators)
I have just rang 3 ie call centre and when I asked why am I being charged 36 c a minute for call I was told that is the EU rate am I the only one getting riped off , im in the uk on a irish phone
Do you not have 3 Like Home Set Up? I have it on 3 Ireland and get completely free roaming in the UK, Italy and Austria. Ring them and ask. My free texts still even work in those countries
Thanks
what? Meteor are free to receive calls in the eu once you opt in. Thought everyone had wised up to the fleecing ages ago
What are their data charges like? I’m off contract now and looking for cheap data roaming, something that matches Vodafone Passport (€2 per day for 50mb)
Roam like home on meteor in the eu with calls charged at normal payg prices or outside minutes bill pay prices. Calls are free to receive. Data charged at eu mandated rates. Data charges are pretty shocking in all honestly, costs a fraction of a cent to provide but its keeping the operators in business with average revenue per user down quarter on quarter. This ‘cash cow’ keeps the networks viable and at the technological forefront. It costs hundreds of millions to introduce and maintain new services such as lte. In such a competitive market margins keep getting leaner, expect to see the number of companies providing mobile services shrink as we are at over saturation in the market. Hence telefonica trying to pull out of the ireland. So in fairness, in such a small market, we do pretty well when it comes to pricing overall.
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