Lawyer accuses garda of incompetence

The lawyer representing the only man charged so far in connection with the Omagh bombing has accused the detective who interviewed his client of incompetence and clumsiness.

Michael O’Higgins, SC, said notes taken by Det Bernie Hanley at a garda interview shortly after his client was arrested in February 1999 were compiled in an incompetent and haphazard manner.

Yesterday, the court heard how the interview notes contained two batches of paper, with two separate styles of handwriting.

Two different pens were also used to write the notes. Forty-nine-year-old Colm Murphy, of Jordan’s Corner, Ravensdale, Dundalk, Co Louth, is charged with conspiracy to cause the Omagh bombing and with membership of the Real IRA.