August 2014 Man jailed after ‘appalling’ sex proposition to schoolgirl A 32-year-old petty criminal who made a “distasteful and appalling proposition” to a teenager for sex has been sentenced to 12 months in jail. Judge David McFarland told Collin Thomas Peter Murphy that “in essence, you were seeking her services as a prostitute”, which she refused. Murphy, with an address in Verner Street, Belfast, was convicted last month of inciting the 15-year-old to have sex with him in his former Co Antrim home in August 2011. The Crown Court judge said the girl had been with a group of other teens who had been allowed to use Murphy’s home for drinking and drugs – although, he added, there was no suggestion that he had supplied them with anything. He added that while others left or drifted away, she was left alone and was looking for a taxi home when Murphy propositioned her. The judge said a victim impact report indicated that the girl had been left with a form of adjustment disorder and as such this has had a clear impact on her life. Murphy, he said, had 49 previous convictions, although relatively minor and typical for a man of his age with alcohol and drugs issues. However, while Murphy had no previous sex convictions, his offending on this occasion required an immediate custodial sentence. In addition Murphy was put on the sex offenders’ register for the next 10 years and banned from working with children. Earlier defence lawyer Justin Byrne revealed that since the incident, Murphy had been under constant threat from paramilitaries and had been forced out of his Co Antrim home.