Adams: Murphy 'demonised' after raids

SINN FÉIN president Gerry Adams yesterday defended alleged former IRA chief of staff Thomas "Slab" Murphy, whose farm is at the centre of a probe into a multi-million-euro smuggling operation.

Mr Adams said Murphy had been "demonised", adding: "Tom Murphy is not a criminal. He is a good republican."

But that view is likely to count little with either the gardaí or the PSNI, both of which believe he has built up a vast fortune through a massive criminal empire.