The conviction this month of Lorcan Tadgh Murphy for the murder of an American nurse in Hungary has exposed a catalogue of disturbing behaviour in Ireland, including the covert recording of multiple women in Dublin using a disguised camera.
Hidden devices and a pattern of harassment
Hungarian police, investigating the fatal assault and strangulation of Mackenzie Michalski in Budapest in November 2024, discovered footage showing Murphy had filmed efforts to approach and pick up 16 young women in Dublin city centre, probably during the summer of 2020. The recordings were made on what investigators described as a “small camera disguised as a pen” — commonly referred to as a spy pen.
Murphy, a 38-year-old law and marketing graduate from south Dublin, was this month sentenced to 14 years in prison in relation to the Budapest murder. During the investigation, his digital records reportedly revealed a serious porn addiction and methodical note-taking of his perceived “success rate” when attempting to pick up women, together with derogatory attitudes towards them.
Concerns from victim support services
The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre said it has long been alarmed by the growing availability and use of covert recording devices—spy glasses, pen cameras and other disguised equipment—that enable the secret filming of women and girls without consent. Its chief executive, Rachel Morrow, warned that such recordings are often dismissed as harmless despite their damaging potential.
“Recordings such as those made by Murphy are often minimised as harmless, but this type of harassment was part of a path to future crime,”
Morrow added that victims may never discover recordings exist, or that images have been shared or repeatedly viewed by strangers. She stressed that the number of known cases likely under‑represents the true scale of the problem.
Law and prosecutions
Legislative change in Ireland in 2020—commonly known as Coco’s Law—made it an offence to record, distribute or publish intimate images without consent. The statute specifically covers acts such as photographing up a skirt or down a blouse. According to the Director of Public Prosecutions, there have been 48 prosecutions under section 3 of the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act since its introduction.
Nevertheless, victim groups argue there is a case for broader criminalisation of covert recording where a reasonable person would regard it as sexualising. The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre said stronger and clearer offences are needed to reflect the ways in which modern technologies enable persistent and intrusive harassment.
Wider implications
The material uncovered by Hungarian investigators links a pattern of secret filming with other troubling behaviours, illustrating how seemingly disparate offences can form part of a continuum of harm. For victims, the knowledge that recordings may exist but never be detected compounds the long-term impact of abuse.
- Secret recordings were made using a device disguised as a pen.
- Police found footage of attempts to pick up 16 women in Dublin.
- There have been 48 prosecutions under the relevant Irish law since 2020.
| Detail | Figure |
|---|---|
| Women covertly filmed (Dublin footage) | 16 |
| Defendant’s age | 38 |
| Prison sentence | 14 years |
| Prosecutions under section 3 (since 2020) | 48 |
Police, prosecutors and victim support organisations face a shared challenge: adapting investigation and prosecution practices to address offences made easier by small, everyday devices. As this case demonstrates, the harm caused by covert recordings can be long-lasting and extend beyond any one criminal act.
Calls from campaigners for clearer criminal offences reflect a broader international debate about privacy, consent and the misuse of technology. For practitioners and policymakers, the task is to ensure legal frameworks and enforcement keep pace with the tools that enable harassment and exploitation.
