Court hopes to give verdict Friday

The Special Criminal Court is expected to give its verdict on Friday in the trial of Colm Murphy, the only man charged in connection with the Omagh bomb.

Murphy’s counsel Mr Michael O’ Higgins SC concluded his closing submissions today after a twenty-five day trial.

At the conclusion of the submissions Mr Justice Robert Barr, presiding at the court of three judges sitting without a jury, said that the court would "hopefully" be in a position to give its verdict on Friday.

Murphy was remanded on continuing bail of 126,973 euro until Friday.

Colm Murphy, aged 49, father of four, building contractor and publican who is a native of Co Armagh with an address at Jordan's Corner, Ravensdale, Co Louth has pleaded not guilty to conspiring in Dundalk with another person not before the court to cause an explosion in the State or elsewhere between August 13th and 16th, 1998.

The prosecution is alleging that Mr Murphy lent his mobile phone and another mobile phone he obtained from an innocent party to the people who planted the Omagh bomb. Earlier in the trial Detective Garda James B Hanley told the court that Murphy had admitted in interviews that he lent his mobile phone to known republicans, knowing it would be used for moving bombs.

In his closing submissions Mr O’ Higgins said that this case worked backwards. ``First of all you have the bomb. Then you have the investigation. The telephone records were analysed. The records showed contact between Mr Murphy’s phone and Mr Terence Morgan’s phone. Then Mr Morgan made allegations that he had lent his phone to Mr Murphy and from then on the whole thing grew legs.

``If you work backwards and there is an element of jiggery pokery and an element of bending of rules you arrive at what happens when you work backwards - a dangerous and unsafe result,’’ he added.

``The court cannot rule out that he was so framed,’’ Mr O’ Higgins said.

Earlier Mr O’ Higgins submitted that there was "a credibility problem" with interviews conducted by the gardai with the accused.

He told the three judges that when they retire as jurors they have to be satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that there was ``no jiggery pokery.''

Mr O' Higgins said that the key question was whether the court can rely on the interviews carried out by the gardai with Murphy. "The central question which the court has to address is whether or not there is a credibility problem in respect of these."

Mr O' Higgins submitted that the interviews were compromised by the cheating which occurred when alleged interviews with two gardai were fabricated.

The court has already ruled that two gardai were guilty of ``patent falsification’’ of interviews and the interviews cannot be admitted in evidence but that other interviews including one where Murphy allegedly admitted lending his mobile phone to dissident republicans and knowing it was for moving a bomb to Northern Ireland can be admitted in evidence.

Mr O' Higgins also said that at the time the crucial interview concluded the "critical admissions" which were alleged to have been obtained were unknown to the following interview team.

He said that this was not an isolated incident but part of a discernible pattern. He said the level of contamination went way beyond the two gardai involved. He submitted that the credibility of all the interviews was in question.