OMAGH BOMB SUSPECT FAILS TO HAVE CASE DROPPED
Omagh bomb fails to have case dropped
THE Special Criminal Court in Dublin also last week refused a defence application to dismiss the case against Colm Murphy.
Two gardai were described as "discredited witnesses" because of the falsification of interview notes with Murphy and the court ruled that evidence of their interviews was inadmissible. Justice Robert Barr said the conduct of the two gardai was "outrageous".
Murphy's counsel Michael O'Higgins SC had asked the court at the conclusion of the prosecution case to withdraw the case against him and discharge Murphy because there was insufficient evidence against him.
But the three judges at the non-jury court dismissed the application and Mr O'Higgins then told the court that Murphy would not be going into evidence. Mr O'Higgins called two expert witnesses, Dr John Peter French and Kirn Harry Hughes, who gave evidence of their examinations of the interview notes.
On the 21st day of the trial, the prosecution alleged that the accused lent his mobile phone and another mobile phone he obtained from an innocent party to the people who planted the Omagh bomb. Earlier in the trial Detective Garda James B. Hanley told the court that Murphy had admitted in interviews that he lent his mobile phone to known republicans, knowing it would be used for moving bombs.
Giving the court's ruling on the defence application to throw out the case, Justice Robert Barr, presiding, said that the prosecution case primarily depends on alleged admissions made by Murphy in the course of 15 interviews with three teams of detectives at Monaghan Garda Station in February, 1999.
The judge said that notes of an interview carried out by Det. Garda Liam Donnelly and Det. Garda John Fahy on February 22 were subjected to an ESDA test by Det. Garda Geraldine Butler who was a prosecution witness but who was not questioned by the prosecution. The notes had been made by Det. Garda Donnelly and it was alleged that they were read over to Murphy but he refused to sign them. The first page was written on both sides and the second page was written on one side.
Det. Garda Butler's professional opinion was that page three of the two sheets of foolscap paper on which the interview notes had been written had been rewritten.
The judge said the court was satisfied that Det. Garda Donnelly was "guilty of patent falsification" of the note by inserting into it an alleged family relationship between the accused's wife and another woman whose brother is a person allegedly closely associated with a known terrorist believed by gardai to have been involved in the Omagh bombing.
"It is inconceivable that the accused would have confirmed a family relationship that in fact did not exist," the judge said.
The judge said that once Det.Garda Donnelly had ascertained that he had inserted a demonstrable falsehood, he would have realised that this information would not have been confirmed by the accused. This necessitated a rewriting of the third page of the notes and having the expurgated version signed by Det. Garda Fahy.
The judge said that Det. Garda Fahy and Donnelly had been involved in "persistent lying on oath" under cross-examination.
He said their conduct was "outrageous" and added that it "taints the prosecution and has consequences which extend beyond the interview notes".
The judge said the two gardai were "discredited witnesses" and ruled their evidence as inadmissible. But the court also found that there was no evidence to suggest that any of the other interrogators had complicity or knowledge of the falsification of the note.
"Misbehaviour by one team does not impugn the propriety or reliability of other interrogators," he added.
THE Special Criminal Court in Dublin also last week refused a defence application to dismiss the case against Colm Murphy.
Two gardai were described as "discredited witnesses" because of the falsification of interview notes with Murphy and the court ruled that evidence of their interviews was inadmissible. Justice Robert Barr said the conduct of the two gardai was "outrageous".
Murphy's counsel Michael O'Higgins SC had asked the court at the conclusion of the prosecution case to withdraw the case against him and discharge Murphy because there was insufficient evidence against him.
But the three judges at the non-jury court dismissed the application and Mr O'Higgins then told the court that Murphy would not be going into evidence. Mr O'Higgins called two expert witnesses, Dr John Peter French and Kirn Harry Hughes, who gave evidence of their examinations of the interview notes.
On the 21st day of the trial, the prosecution alleged that the accused lent his mobile phone and another mobile phone he obtained from an innocent party to the people who planted the Omagh bomb. Earlier in the trial Detective Garda James B. Hanley told the court that Murphy had admitted in interviews that he lent his mobile phone to known republicans, knowing it would be used for moving bombs.
Giving the court's ruling on the defence application to throw out the case, Justice Robert Barr, presiding, said that the prosecution case primarily depends on alleged admissions made by Murphy in the course of 15 interviews with three teams of detectives at Monaghan Garda Station in February, 1999.
The judge said that notes of an interview carried out by Det. Garda Liam Donnelly and Det. Garda John Fahy on February 22 were subjected to an ESDA test by Det. Garda Geraldine Butler who was a prosecution witness but who was not questioned by the prosecution. The notes had been made by Det. Garda Donnelly and it was alleged that they were read over to Murphy but he refused to sign them. The first page was written on both sides and the second page was written on one side.
Det. Garda Butler's professional opinion was that page three of the two sheets of foolscap paper on which the interview notes had been written had been rewritten.
The judge said the court was satisfied that Det. Garda Donnelly was "guilty of patent falsification" of the note by inserting into it an alleged family relationship between the accused's wife and another woman whose brother is a person allegedly closely associated with a known terrorist believed by gardai to have been involved in the Omagh bombing.
"It is inconceivable that the accused would have confirmed a family relationship that in fact did not exist," the judge said.
The judge said that once Det.Garda Donnelly had ascertained that he had inserted a demonstrable falsehood, he would have realised that this information would not have been confirmed by the accused. This necessitated a rewriting of the third page of the notes and having the expurgated version signed by Det. Garda Fahy.
The judge said that Det. Garda Fahy and Donnelly had been involved in "persistent lying on oath" under cross-examination.
He said their conduct was "outrageous" and added that it "taints the prosecution and has consequences which extend beyond the interview notes".
The judge said the two gardai were "discredited witnesses" and ruled their evidence as inadmissible. But the court also found that there was no evidence to suggest that any of the other interrogators had complicity or knowledge of the falsification of the note.
"Misbehaviour by one team does not impugn the propriety or reliability of other interrogators," he added.
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/0862
Published Date: 22-Nov-01
Related Images
There have been no images archived for this article.