The prison service says it is satisfied so-called 'Scissor Sister' Charlotte Mulhall was not interviewed from behind bars for an article published in a newspaper last Sunday. However, the journalist who wrote the Sunday World article has said she has proof the interview took place.

A spokesman for the Irish prison service, which has investigated the article since its publication, told the Sunday Tribune: "All available evidence points to the conclusion that no such interview took place."

This was strongly refuted by journalist Niamh O'Connor who said she "has proof" of her interview with Mulhall.

It is understood the 25-year-old, convicted of life imprisonment for the murder of Farah Swaleh Noor in 2005, has denied she spoke to the journalist as it would jeopardise her visitation rights with her son.

Charlotte Mulhall was handed down a life sentence in October 2006 for the murder of Noor, whose dismembered body was discovered in the Royal Canal in Dublin. Her older sister Linda was found guilty of his man­slaughter and received 15 years. Both sisters have lost their appeals against the severity of their sentences.

On 15 February, their mother Kathleen pleaded guilty to a charge of covering up her Kenyan boyfriend's killing.

The 53-year-old pleaded guilty to cleaning up the murder scene at Richmond Cottages, Ballybough, Dublin, and knowing that the murder had taken place there.

She is due to be sentenced on 5 May.