Colm Murphy

Colm Murphy (18 August 1952 – 18 April 2023) was an Irish republican who was the first person to be convicted in connection with the Omagh bombing, but whose conviction was overturned on appeal. While awaiting a retrial on criminal charges, Murphy was found liable for the bombing in a civil trial, along with Michael McKevitt, Liam Campbell and Seamus Daly. He was subsequently cleared of criminal charges in February 2010.

Background Born in Belleeks, County Armagh, on 18 August 1952, Murphy was an active Irish republican paramilitary from his late teens. In March 1972, he was arrested in Dundalk regarding an assault, and was sentenced to two years in prison after the Garda Síochána found a loaded revolver in his car. Murphy was imprisoned in the Curragh military jail but escaped in October 1972, and was not recaptured until May 1973.

On 10 October 2000, the BBC television show Panorama named Murphy as one of four people connected with the Omagh bombing, along with Seamus Daly and Liam Campbell. In 2001, Murphy undertook legal action against the BBC and Daily Mail publishers Associated Newspapers for contempt of court. The action against Associated Newspapers was settled on 31 July 2001, and the newspaper released a statement saying Murphy was entitled to be presumed innocent of the charges against him until proven guilty.

Murphy's trial began at Special Criminal Court in Dublin on 12 October 2001. The court heard that Murphy had supplied two mobile phones which were used during the bombing. One witness, Murphy's second cousin, retracted his evidence and the judge called the conduct of two detectives outrageous, saying they had persistently lied under cross-examination. Despite this, on 22 January 2002, Murphy was convicted of conspiring to cause the Omagh bombing, and on 25 January was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment with the judge describing him as a long-time republican extremist.

On 21 January 2005, Murphy's conviction was overturned and a new trial ordered, due to the invasion of Murphy's presumption of innocence, and alteration of Gardaí interview notes and evidence presented by two officers. A week later, Murphy's legal case against the BBC was resolved, with the BBC issuing a statement that Murphy "was fully entitled to maintain his innocence of the charges against him and to test the evidence against him at his trial".

On 23 October 2006, two Gardaí officers were found not guilty of perjuring themselves during Murphy's trial. On 23 May 2007, it was announced that Murphy was suffering from short-term memory loss resulting from a car accident in 1988. His lawyers attempted to prevent a retrial taking place, on the grounds that his condition interfered with his right to a fair hearing. The Court of Criminal Appeal was scheduled to hear his case again in October 2008. On 7 July 2011, in Belfast High Court, Lord Justice Malachy Higgins directed a retrial of the civil claims against Murphy. He questioned evidence surrounding emails from US undercover agent David Rupert while overturning the judgment on Murphy. The paucity of the email evidence, the lack of consistency in the emails or at least ambiguity, the possibility of initials referring to someone other than Murphy and the fact that they refer on occasions to double hearsay considerably weakened the emails as evidence, he said. Following a civil retrial, on 20 March 2013, Murphy and Seamus Daly were found liable for involvement in the bombing.

Death

Murphy died of degenerative lung disease on 18 April 2023, at the age of 70.