Judge bans reporting of garda questioning

The Special Criminal Court has placed a gagging order on journalists, preventing further coverage of the trial of a Co Louth man charged in connection with the Omagh bombing.

Mr Justice Robert Barr, one of the three judges in the non-jury court, said reporting restrictions will apply because continued questioning of gardai involved in the case amounts to a “trial within a trial”.

49-year-old Colm Murphy, from Jordan’s Corner, Ravensdale, Dundalk, is charged with conspiring to cause the Omagh bombing and with membership of the Real IRA.