OMAGH BOMB MANS SON IN EXPLOSIVE CONVICTION
Device disguised as advertising hoarding
EXCLUSIVE
THIS is Conan Murphy who was yesterday convicted of possessing a bomb constructed from gas cylinders and hidden inside a mobile advertising hoarding.
He is the son of Colm Murphy who was convicted of conspiracy to cause the 1998 Omagh bombing - which killed 29 people including a woman pregnant with twins -but was then acquitted on appeal and cleared at a retrial.
Murphy snr was one of four men found liable for the Real IRA atrocity in a civil action taken by some of the families of those killed.
His 25-year-old son has been found guilty of possessing explosive substances in Co Louth in May 2010.
The bomb was designed to be transported behind a car and was disguised as an advertising hoarding promoting "Flog The Lot.ie".
Murphy's co-accused, 58-year-old Philip McKevitt, was found guilty of the same offence.
The Special Criminal Court also heard that gardai uncovered 377 metres of green-camouflaged wire which was intended to be used as a "command wire" from a firing pack.
Meanwhile, a Supreme Court ruling on a key piece of the Republic's anti-terrorist legislation has thrown into doubt the prosecution of dozens of suspected dissident republicans.
Five of the state's most senior judges concluded that a section of the Offences Against the State Act was "repugnant" to the constitution.
The law has been routinely used by gardai to search the homes of suspects in paramilitary cases.
Now the ruling by the Republic's highest court means that many cases pending before the non-jury Special Criminal Court are in doubt.
EXCLUSIVE
THIS is Conan Murphy who was yesterday convicted of possessing a bomb constructed from gas cylinders and hidden inside a mobile advertising hoarding.
He is the son of Colm Murphy who was convicted of conspiracy to cause the 1998 Omagh bombing - which killed 29 people including a woman pregnant with twins -but was then acquitted on appeal and cleared at a retrial.
Murphy snr was one of four men found liable for the Real IRA atrocity in a civil action taken by some of the families of those killed.
His 25-year-old son has been found guilty of possessing explosive substances in Co Louth in May 2010.
The bomb was designed to be transported behind a car and was disguised as an advertising hoarding promoting "Flog The Lot.ie".
Murphy's co-accused, 58-year-old Philip McKevitt, was found guilty of the same offence.
The Special Criminal Court also heard that gardai uncovered 377 metres of green-camouflaged wire which was intended to be used as a "command wire" from a firing pack.
Meanwhile, a Supreme Court ruling on a key piece of the Republic's anti-terrorist legislation has thrown into doubt the prosecution of dozens of suspected dissident republicans.
Five of the state's most senior judges concluded that a section of the Offences Against the State Act was "repugnant" to the constitution.
The law has been routinely used by gardai to search the homes of suspects in paramilitary cases.
Now the ruling by the Republic's highest court means that many cases pending before the non-jury Special Criminal Court are in doubt.
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/1064
Published Date: 25-Feb-12
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