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Omagh bomb accused turned down Legal Aid

THE man accused of plotting the Omagh bombing, Colm Murphy (46), was refused legal aid in Dublin yesterday.
The accused, father of four from Ravensdale, Co Louth faces a charge at Dublin's special criminal court of conspiring with another person to cause the explosion in 1998 which killed 29 people.
Barrister for the accused told the court how Murphy had been a publican and ran a construction firm, but after being charged his business had "sunk like a stone" and he now had no income.
The estimated legal cost of his case was IR£120,000.
The Judge, Mr Justice Frederick Morris turned down Murphy's application for legal aid on the grounds that money had been lodged into a bank account in the name of the accused's wife and children, and that he had, until recently, been "a relatively wealthy gentleman."
A date remains to be fixed for the trial of Murphy.