New inquiry call as Omagh bombing conviction quashed
A cross-border public inquiry is the only hope of getting to the truth behind the Omagh bombing, victims’ families said tonight after the only man jailed in connection with the attack had his conviction quashed.
Colm Murphy (aged 52), from Ravensdale, Co Louth, will be freed pending a retrial subject to stringent bail conditions, including lodging sureties totalling €120,000, Dublin’s Court of Criminal Appeal ruled.
Michael Gallagher, whose son Aidan was killed in the explosion, said the families were shocked by the court’s decision that Murphy’s conviction was unsafe on two grounds.
Mr Gallagher said distraught relatives now felt like they were back to square one as no-one had been brought to justice in the six-and-a-half years since the Real IRA attack devastated the Co Tyrone town killing 29 people, including a woman pregnant with unborn twins.
“We sat through a lot of that trial and it wasn’t a nice place to be but we felt glad walking out that someone was convicted for their part in the deaths of our loved ones,” he said.
“Now we have to go through a retrial and face all that again, it is like being back at the bottom of a hill and is very difficult for all of us.
“There must be questions that the court service, the Government and the gardaí have to answer.
“It seems only a full public cross-border public inquiry will uncover the truth.”
Murphy was jailed in 2002 at the Special Criminal Court for conspiring to cause the Real IRA explosion in August 1998.
His original trial found he had lent his mobile phone and another phone to the gang who planted the Omagh bomb, knowing it would be used for moving bombs.
But the three Appeal Court judges supported his defence team’s claim that the conviction was unsafe and ordered a retrial.
Murphy, who was dressed in a crumpled zip-up jacket and checked shirt, showed no emotion as the verdict was delivered.
Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns, presiding, said the first ground to uphold the appeal was the Special Criminal Court’s approach to the alteration of Garda interview notes and the evidence given by two Garda officers in the original trial, who were subsequently charged with perjury.
He said the second ground was the Special Criminal Court’s invasion of Murphy’s presumption of innocence by having regard to his previous convictions. He said all the other 43 grounds submitted by Murphy’s lawyers had been rejected.
Senior counsel Michael O’Higgins, representing Murphy, applied for bail on his behalf, a move which was not opposed by the state.
Mr Justice Kearns imposed a requirement of a €50,000 cash deposit and two independent sureties of €35,000.
He also ordered that Murphy surrender his passport, report daily to Dundalk Garda station and provide the address at which he will be residing.
Mr O’Higgins said Murphy’s personal circumstances had altered very radically since he was convicted in 2002.
“He was a builder then … literally, in 24 hours his business ground to a halt. He was financially ruined by it,” he said.
Mr O’Higgins said the state had opposed the granting of legal aid to Murphy during the 2002 trial and that as a result he would be considering bringing an application for costs against the state.
Mr Justice Kearns said he would have the opportunity to do so when the court sat again next Friday.
After the hearing Murphy’s sister Angela Reilly and another young woman approached the defendant in the courtroom.
Murphy was then led away in handcuffs by six gardai to await an army patrol to bring him back to Portlaoise Prison, where he will stay until the bail requirements are met.
Speaking afterwards, Ms Reilly said: “We are relieved. It’s been a terrible time for us all.”
She added: “He is doing okay, better than three years ago when justice wasn’t served.”
His solicitor, Michael Farrell, said: “The judgment speaks for itself.”
Justice Minister Michael McDowell said he would study the decision of the Court of Criminal Appeal but it was not appropriate to comment while two separate criminal proceedings were pending.
Michael Gallagher summed up the feeling of shock felt by the families of the deceased and injured in the Omagh bombing.
“We were always aware that you’re at the mercy of the courts in situations like this but we never expected this result,” he said.
“Here we are six-and-a-half years on and the only person convicted has won his appeal so not one person has now been held accountable for an atrocity which claimed the lives of 31 people including unborn twins.
“What sort of message does that send out to society that we can accept that number of people can be murdered and no-one can be brought to justice?”
