Gerry Adams refuses to condemn Thomas ‘Slab’ Murphy after tax conviction

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams has refused to withdraw his support for former Provisional IRA leader, Thomas ‘Slab’ Murphy, who was yesterday convicted of tax evasion.

Murphy was yesterday found guilty of nine charges by the Special Criminal Court.

Mr Adams previously denied Murphy was a criminal, insisting he was a “good republican”. Yesterday, the three judges found him guilty of failing to furnish tax returns on his farm income between 1996 and 2004.

In a terse statement, Mr Adams said he was aware of the reports of the judgement, adding that Murphy strongly “contested the accusations”. “I have no comment to make until the legal process has been concluded,” he said.

Mr Adams’s failure to distance himself from a convicted criminal will heap pressure on him and his party so close to the election.

The court rejected Murphy’s defence that the farming activity was controlled by his brother, Patrick Murphy, who along with his other brother had already made a settlement with the Revenue Commissioners.

Murphy, 66, of Ballybinaby, Hackballscross, Co Louth, was remanded on bail for sentencing, which is expected to occur in February.

The Special Criminal Court found that Thomas ‘Slab’ Murphy was a chargeable person and should have paid tax.

The trial heard that Murphy had traded in over €370,000 worth of cattle in five years and had been paid over €100,000 in farm grants over eight years.

Murphy was prosecuted on foot of a Criminal Assets Bureau investigation, which during a search of an outhouse found bags with over €250,000 and £111,000 in cash, as well as documentation, diaries, and ledgers.

The court said it was satisfied he was farming and dealing in cattle and that he had received income from the sale of cattle and used that for his own benefit.

It also said he could not have been unaware of his responsibility to pay tax.

Murphy lost a libel appeal in a Dublin court in 1998 after he was identified as directing the IRA’s bombing campaign in Britain, as well as helping to import tonnes of weapons from Libya during the 1980s.