British businessman denies any dealings with ‘Slab’ Murphy

A British businessman whose property was raided by PSNI's Assets Recovery Agency (ARA) last week has held a press conference to protest his innocence.

The ARA raided four premises linked to Dermot Craven and his business partner as part of an investigation into IRA assets.

It quickly emerged that the investigation was centred on a £30m (€43.5m) property empire allegedly built up by leading republican Thomas 'Slab' Murphy.

In his press conference today, Mr Craven insisted that he had never had any dealings with Mr Murphy and had never heard of him before last week.

He said however that he had dealt with a Frank Murphy, who he now realises is a brother of Thomas 'Slab' Murphy. He described Frank Murphy as "a very nice man" whom he had met a few times.

The businessman's solicitor also accused the ARA of manipulating the media in order to justify its own existence.

"They need to convince their political masters, they need to convince the public they're not yet another failing government agency," he claimed.