Louth man tries to stop retrial in Omagh bomb case

A Co Louth man, Colm Murphy, has brought High Court proceedings aimed at stopping his retrial on conspiracy charges connected with the Real IRA bombing of Omagh in 1998 which killed 29 people.

The trial is scheduled to open before the non-jury Special Criminal Court on January 11th but may be delayed because of the judicial review challenge.

Mr Murphy claims the "systemic delay" in prosecuting him has prejudiced his right to a fair and speedy trial. That delay, he contends, included an "inexcusable" three-year delay by the DPP in preferring perjury charges against two gardaí who gave evidence at his first trial which opened in 2001.

One of those gardaí, Det Liam Donnelly, earlier this year brought unsuccessful High Court proceedings aimed at halting his trial on perjury charges. Both he and the second officer, Det John Fahy, have been returned for trial later this year.

After hearing submissions yesterday from Mr Micheal O'Higgins SC, for Mr Murphy, Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O'Neill said he was satisfied an arguable case had been made out for the bringing of judicial review proceedings. The judge said there was urgency in the case and he returned it for mention on July 27th. It is expected the full judicial review hearing will not take place until the new court term opens in October.

Colm Murphy, a building contractor and publican who is a native of Co Armagh but with an address at Jordan's Corner, Ravensdale, Co Louth, was freed on bail last year after the Court of Criminal Appeal quashed his conviction and 14-year sentence for conspiracy offences connected with the Real IRA bombing which killed 29 people, and injured more than 300 people.

The appeal court overturned the conviction and ordered a retrial after finding that the court of trial had failed to give proper regard to altered Garda interview notes and that there had been "an invasion of the presumption of innocence" in the judgment on Mr Murphy.

During his 25-day trial in 2001 and 2002, Mr Murphy had pleaded not guilty to conspiring in Dundalk with another person not before the court to cause an explosion in the State or elsewhere between August 13th and 16th, 1998.

Yesterday, Mr O'Higgins said the case against Mr Murphy was that he had lent his mobile phone to another person knowing it would be used for certain purposes the end result of which was the Omagh bombing.

His trial had ended in January 2002, he was jailed for 14 years and he remained in jail until his appeal against conviction was granted in 2005. A further two years elapsed between the matter being remitted to the Special Criminal Court for retrial.

That was because two gardaí faced perjury charges but, although the basis for the alleged perjury arose during the first trial, no charges were preferred by the DPP against the gardaí until just around the time the CCA was due to deliver judgment on Mr Murphy's appeal, counsel said.