Killer Macarthur allowed out on temporary release

One of Ireland's longest-serving prisoners, Malcolm Macarthur, the Trim native who murdered Curraha nurse Bridie Gargan almost 30 years ago, was allowed out on temporary release from prison at the weekend to visit relatives in south Co Dublin. Macarthur, originally from Breemount, is being held at the open prison at Shelton Abbey in Arklow, Co Wicklow, and his weekend break from prison was part of a structured programme of temporary release approved by Justice Minister Alan Shatter. It was his seventh release from the open prison, to where he was transferred in 2004 after a Parole Board recommendation that he be moved there to test his suitability for eventual full release. In one of the most notorious murder cases of all time in Ireland, he was arrested at the home of the then Attorney General, Patrick Connolly, in Dalkey, following the murders of Bridie Gargan in the Phoenix Park, and Donal Dunne in Edenderry, Co Offaly. He was subsequently convicted of the Gargan murder and the State entered a nolle prosequi in the Dunne case. Macarthur was photographed shopping and walking around Dun Laoghaire at the weekend. He returned to Shelton Abbey on Monday evening. Retired Detective Superintendent PJ Browne, who worked in the Garda Murder Squad with the detectives who arrested him, said he believed McArthur should not be out, as he believes he was still capable of murder.