Murphy walks free after two years behind bars

COLM MURPHY, whose conviction over the Omagh bombing was quashed last week, walked from court yesterday a free man.

The 52-year-old posted bail totalling €50,000 at Dublin’s Special Criminal Court to secure his release after two years behind bars.

His conviction in connection with the 1998 atrocity was overturned by three appeal court judges last Friday on the grounds it was unsafe on two counts.

Murphy left the court with another man, refusing to answer questions from the media. Journalists followed the pair several hundred yards from the court before they disappeared into a nearby pub.

Outside the bar, Murphy’s daughter Leonora, who posted bail on his behalf, read a statement to the media.

“We are delighted with our father coming home today,” she said.

“It’s been a nightmare for all of our families for the last six years.

“Our hearts go out to the people of Omagh who have lost their loved ones. It was a terrible atrocity which should never have happened but also one that destroyed my father’s life. We are grateful and pleased that the courts have recognised the terrible miscarriage of justice and we will not stop until our father’s name has been completely cleared.”

The Court of Criminal Appeal ruled last Friday that Murphy’s conviction was unsafe and ordered a retrial.

The three judges granted Murphy bail on two independent sureties of €25,000.

Murphy’s sister Kathleen Tully, who lives in Co Armagh, will pay the first. Another surety will be provided by Leonora, who lives in Ravensdale, Co Louth. Murphy has surrendered his passport but must sign on daily at Dundalk Garda Station and must reside at a named address at Mount Pleasant, Dundalk, under the bail conditions.

Murphy was tried by the three-judge Special Criminal Court in 2001 for conspiring to cause the explosion that killed 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins.

He was sentenced to 14 years’ jail on January 25, 2002. He served two years in Portlaoise Prison.

He is due to appear before the Special Criminal Court on April 5.

Earlier yesterday, Murphy appeared at the Court of Criminal Appeal to vary his bail conditions. Lawrence Rush, whose wife was killed in the bomb blast, also attended the appeal court hearing. He addressed the judges to object to Murphy being granted bail.

Visibly distressed, Mr Rush told the court he felt he had been imprisoned for the past six years.

At the entrance to the court, Mr Rush told journalists: “If these people are looking for apologies or absolution from me they’re certainly not going to get it.

“They’ll find it in God or somewhere else,” he added.