November 2015 Man jailed for 17-years for the false imprisonment of an 11-year-old girl A mother has revealed her horror after claiming a sick predator groomed her 13-year-old daughter through Facebook. Child abductor Michael Martin has been caged for 13 years for dragging an 11-year-old girl into his jeep. The monster, who has nearly 100 convictions, sped off when his victim’s 10-year-old hero brother clung onto the vehicle and struck him. Last night a mum, who came forward to reveal how Martin groomed her teenage girl, blasted Martin’s sentence, saying he “should have got life”. Despite the sick Facebook messages sent by the brute being reported to Garda, he could not be charged because he never suggested meeting the teen. The online exchange two years before Martin pounced on his 11-year-old victim in Cullohill, Co Laois, on March 4, gives an insight into his twisted mind. The mum told how the pervert tried to befriend her daughter on the social networking site in 2013 And she believes were it not for her vigilant monitoring, the girl’s fate could have been a lot worse. The mum, who cannot be named to protect her daughter, said: “He contacted her in April 2013. I went straight to the guards and reported it. “In his messages he said he was 24 but he was 34 and was using three separate Facebook accounts. “It turned out he had lots of that age group added to his Facebook and that’s why my daughter accepted him thinking it was the girl in his picture. “She mistook Michael as Michelle. It’s scary how easy it happened. “The guards were very sympathetic but there was nothing they could do apparently because he did not ask her to meet up directly, after which I told them maybe because I intervened. “When I heard about that boy and girl this week my feelings were that if the laws were different it wouldn’t have happened as he would have been arrested after talking to my daughter.” In the Facebook messages, Martin tells the girl she looks “sexy”. He said: “Well.” To which she responded: “Do I no you?” Martin, from Waterford city, said: “Random add but ur quar sexy luxin. I’m not a pervert. I just can’t help it if ur gud luxin.” She asked him how old he was to which he responded 24. She told him she was only 13. He then said to her: “O ri so do u want me to unfriend u?” She said, “It’s OK”, to which Martin responded “KK. So u with ne1 [anyone]. R u with ne1, a lad like?” When the girl said no and asked why he had asked he said: “Jw [just would] love to get to no u as a friend at least.” She told him to leave her alone. The girl said: “I’m 13 go away.” At this stage her mum confronted Martin in the Facebook chat. She said: “This is ***’s [girl’s name] mother. What are you doing even talking to my child? What possible interest would you have in getting to know a 13-year-old as a friend?” Martin then tried to claim it was not him but a young relative who had been talking to the teen. The mum last night warned other parents of young children using the internet to be extra vigilant and monitor what their kids are doing online at all times. She added: “As my daughter was 13 the condition of her being allowed to have a Facebook profile was that I had her password at the time so that’s how I was able to see and prevent any further contact. “I’d urge parents to do the same or God knows what could have happened. “I was physically sick that this happened to us. It’s something you read about but never imagine will ever happen to you or your family. “What if I didn’t have her password? Would she have let slip what school she was in? Would he have abducted her? “Her life would have been ruined, all of our lives would have been. She’s our only child and this predator tried to reach out to her via Facebook. “It’s too easy for people like him to contact children. Parents need to keep track and stay vigilant to who their children are speaking too at all times if using the internet.” Martin will serve just over nine years behind bars after automatic 25% remission – meaning be free to roam the streets again when he is 45. Hitting out at the sentence, the mum said: “He’s been in prison before and got released and initiated contact with children online. “If he hadn’t have been released none of that would have happened. “We need sentencing like in America where child offenders get longer sentences to prevent these men hurting our children.” Another woman told the Irish Mirror he tried to groom her and her pal when they were just 13. The woman, who does not want to be named, added: “He tried to go off with my friend down the road when he knew she was only 13 and offered her 20 fags if she did. “He always used to buy us stuff when we were little. Little did we know he was trying to groom us.” Another woman who knows Martin described him as a “complete sicko”. She said: “It’s shocking he only got 13 years. He’s a psycho. “I wouldn’t doubt he has tried to approach young girls before.” Martin is currently housed on the G Division of the Midlands Prison alongside sadistic killer Graham Dwyer. Portlaoise Circuit Court heard he had 92 previous convictions, including one for the abduction of a 14-year-old girl in 2003, at the time of the Laois offence. Martin approached and started a conversation with two 10-year-old twin brothers and their 11-year-old sister while they were playing in Cullohill. Judge Keenan Johnson said he grabbed the girl by her waist “and put her feet-first into the jeep through the driver’s door”. As the girl struggled and kicked her ten-year-old brother jumped onto the driver’s side of the vehicle. Judge Johnson added the boy “clung to the door and continued to punch the accused while he attempted to move the vehicle”. With Martin distracted, the girl managed to escape. He said the boy “was extremely brave and showed great presence of mind, maturity beyond his years”. The children now live in the US. Judge Johnson added: “Thankfully cases of this nature are uncommon in Ireland.” October 2015 A hero boy clung to a moving jeep to save his sister who was being abducted. Police have praised the 10-year-old schoolboy for his actions after he grabbed the window of the 4×4 to rescue his 11-year-old sibling Scumbag Michael Martin, 36, will be sentenced next week for the horrifiying incident in Laois, Ireland on March 4 last year. The thug, who has nearly 100 convictions, pleaded guilty to the false imprisonment of the girl, who, along with her brother, cannot be identified. But Gardai at Portlaoise Circuit Court called them “exceptional children”. Garda Anne Marie Deegan told prosecuting counsel Will Fennelly that the 11 year-old girl and her brothers, twin 10 year-old boys, were playing at a rural location in Cullohill when they were approached by a man driving a jeep. The court heard the girl “was picked up and put into the SUV through the driver’s door across the passenger seat”. The man then attempted to drive away but one of the brothers “ran up, reached in and attempted to strike the driver in the vehicle”,reports the Irish Mirror. The boy then continued “hanging off” the jeep with his feet off the ground. When the jeep slowed, the youngster got off the vehicle and initially continued his pursuit on foot. However, he returned home when he noticed his sister and brother running in the direction of a house. Garda Deegan said the three children were able to give a description and provide a partial registration of the jeep. Mr Fennelly said “a large amount of garda resources and manpower was deployed to locating this vehicle and driver”. CCTV footage was taken from nearby business and residences and gardai became aware of an earlier report of a similar vehicle acting suspiciously at Durrow. Martin, from Shandon Court, Yellow Road, Waterford city, was arrested the following day when the vehicle was stopped outside Castlecomer and he was brought to Portlaoise for questioning. He admitted to stealing the jeep but “at no time during these interviews did he admit that it was he who attempted to abduct this child,” the court was told. Both girl and her brother later identified the defendant in two separate identity parades at Portlaoise Garda Station. Martin pleaded guilty to false imprisonment in July. Garda Deegan described the siblings as “exceptional children” and Mr Fennelly agreed that “they were obviously very courageous children” and he commended the “plucky” brother. Garda Deegan also praised the local community for their assistance in the investigation. A victim impact statement written by the girl’s father said: “This man stole a significant portion of her innocence.” The incident had affected her confidence and “our lives were permanently changed that day”. “You don’t like to see your children being fearful of everyday ordinary things,” the father added. The court heard Martin, who is originally from Dublin, has 92 previous convictions. The majority of the convictions are for fraud, robbery but also included a conviction for an assault of a girl, threatening to kill or cause serious harm to a woman and in another incident, false imprisonment. Judge Keenan Johnson commended Garda Deegan and other officers for their police work. “I would like to commend her and her colleagues for the excellent work they did,” he remarked. He remanded Martin in custody to appear again next Thursday when sentencing continues. 2010 Larry Murphys attacker is a child kidnapper Martin (pictured) served time for kidnapping a 14 yr old schoolgirl A MAN who boasted that he decked rapist Larry Murphy and broke his teeth is today exposed as a child kidnapper. Locals in Baltinglass, Co Wicklow told the Sunday World they were astonished to see Michael Martin, who, abducted a 14-year-old girl in 2003, pose for a photograph and give a newspaper interview. Martin (31), who claimed his name was Michael Moran, boasted he’d knocked out the vile rapist’s front teeth in a pub brawl. “Talk about the pot calling the kettle black,” one resident of the town said. “We couldn’t believe it when we saw his face in the paper. People here are terrified of him, he’s a thug not long out of prison.” A woman, who said she had two teenage girls, told the Sunday World: “I wouldn’t let my daughters near him. To have to read all about him boasting how he took on Larry Murphy was just sick.” Martin was charged and convicted in connection with the disappearance of a 14-year-old schoolgirl in 2003. He was 24 at the time and already a seasoned criminal when he preyed on the teenager. After bombarding the junior cert student with text messages, she went missing from the Presentation Convent school in Carlow – not far from where Murphy snatched his victim. The girls parents from Tallaght, appealed to her captor to release her. “I can only imagine what his interest may be in Amanda,” her dad Tom said. “I could understand if it was a boyfriend of 15, but it doesn’t bear thinking about what could happen when there is a 24 year old involved. And mum added: “I’m devastated and scared. “I just hope she’s OK.” The girl eventually turned up in Dublin’s Connolly station five days later. Martin had taken her to the North. He was charged with the abduction of a child under section 17 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997. Last week he tried to pawn himself off as a have-a-go hero who had taken on the country’s most hated sex offender. “I’d do it again,” Martin bragged, about boxing Murphy. He claimed the brawl happened a year before Murphy was jailed for the rape and attempted murder of a woman. “I was having a game of pool and I saw him rubbing his hand on my ex-girlfriend’s leg. I punched him straight in the mouth and he fell
flat on his face. He’s a f**king coward. He kept saying: ‘I don’t want any hassle, don’t hit me’. “He legged it and that’s when I saw his tooth on the ground. I would do it again – the cheek of him. He was renowned for coming on
to women all the time.”  Forty-five-year-old Murphy, who now has a red beard, has been travelling around the continent since fleeing Ireland following his release in August.