TC/0949

Bomb trial suspended until New Year as judge falls ill

THE trial of Colm Murphy, the only person charged in connection with the Omagh bomb, has been dramatically halted after one of the three Dublin Special Criminal Court judges was taken to hospital.
When the hearing resumed this week, Mr. Justice Robert Barr, presiding at the non-jury court, told the prosecution and defence teams that there was a difficulty in continuing.
He said that Judge Mary O'Halloran had been taken ill and was in hospital, and he adjourned the hearing until the next law term in January "to ensure she had sufficient time to make a good recovery".
Mr. Justice Barr said that in January the court would continue to hear the final defence submissions in the case, and would then have to consider its judgment over a period of several days.
The shock announcement came on day 23 of the trial of Murphy, a father of four, building contractor and publican, who has pleaded not guilty to conspiring with another to cause an explosion in the state or elsewhere between August 13 and 16, 1998.
Murphy, meanwhile has been remanded on continuing bail of £100,000 until January 11, of next year.
At the end of last week, the court condemned the actions of two Gardai, and ruled their evidence as inadmissible, after it was alleged that they had falsified interview notes.
The judge said the court had found that notes of an interview carried out by Gardai Liam Donnelly and John Fahy on February 22 had been falsified.
He said their conduct had been "outrageous" and added that it had consequences which extended beyond the interview notes.
However, the court also found that the misbehaviour of one of the team did not impugn the propriety or reliability of others who had interrogated Murphy.
The judges in the case also rejected a defence application to dismiss the case against Murphy in light of evidence that two Gardai having falsified interview notes.