IN/0726

Murphy a free man after two years in jail

COLM Murphy, whose conviction over the Omagh bomb was quashed last week, walked from court a free man yesterday.
The 52-year-old posted bail totalling £50,000 (S34.600) at Dublin's Special Criminal Court to secure his release after two years behind bars.
His conviction in connection with the 1998 atrocity was overturned by three appeal court judges last Friday on the grounds that it was unsafe on two counts.
Mr Murphy left the court with another man refusing to answer questions from the media.
Journalists followed the pair several hundred yards from the court before they disappeared into a nearby pub.
Outside the bar Mr Murphy's daughter Leonora, who posted bail on his behalf, read a statement to the media.
"We are delighted with our father coming home today. It's been a nightmare for all of our families for the last six years, she said.
"Our hearts go out to the people of Omagh who have lost their loved ones. It was a terrible atrocity which should never have happened but also one that destroyed my father's life.
"We are grateful and pleased that the courts have recognised the terrible miscarriage of justice and we will not stop until our father's name has been completely cleared."
The Court of Criminal Appeal ruled last Friday that Mr Murphy's conviction was unsafe and ordered a retrial.
The three judges granted bail on two independent sureties of £25,000 (SI7,300).
Mr Murphy has surrendered his passport but must sign on daily at Dundalk Garda Station and must reside at a named address at Mount Pleasant, Dundalk, under the bail conditions.
Lawrence Rush, whose wife was killed in the bomb blast addressed the court to object to Mr Murphy's bail.
Visibly distressed, Mr Rush told the court he felt he had been imprisoned for the last six years.
The appeal judges placed reporting restrictions on much of his statement in order not to prejudice Mr Murphy's retrial.
Mr Rush spoke to journalists at the entrance to Dublin's Four Courts.
"I'm still here and I will be here. I know one thing, that if these people are looking for apologies or absolution from me, they're certainly not going to get it," Mr Rush said.
"I'm the only one who can absolve them for my wife's death and I will not be giving that absolution. They'll find it in God or somewhere else."
He added: "I have been in prison, I think, I dream, I live, on the fact that my wife was desecrated in her own wee shop."
He was tried by the three judge Special Criminal Court in 2001 for conspiring to cause the explosion which killed 29 people including a woman pregnant with twins.
Mr Murphy was sentenced to 14 years' jail on January 25 2002. He served two years in Portlaoise Prison.
He is due to appear before the Special Criminal Court on April 5.