World

Real IRA Bomber Found Guilty

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

January 22, 2002 / 3:57 PM EST / CBS

An Irish court Tuesday convicted a man of involvement in plotting the 1998 Omagh bombing which killed 29 people in the single bloodiest act in the 30 years of the Northern Ireland conflict.

Colm Murphy, 49, of Dundalk, Ireland, the only person so far charged in connection with the attack, was found guilty of conspiring to cause an explosion by a panel of three judges following a 25-day trial at Dublin's Special Criminal Court.

In passing judgment, Justice Robert Barr said Murphy, a wealthy building contractor, barkeeper, and father of four, was "a republican dissident terrorist of longstanding."

Murphy had testified that he had nothing to do with the attack, which he called "unjustifiable."

Describing the case against him as overwhelming, the judge highlighted evidence that Murphy had lent two mobile phones to a man linked with the Real IRA guerrilla group, which carried out the attack.

Dressed in a gray suit, and impassive throughout, Murphy faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. Sentencing was set for Friday morning.

Murphy had been free on bail since shortly after his 1999 arrest. He also faces another trial on a charge of membership in an illegal organization. However the Irish prison system rarely holds terrorism-related convicts for more than 15 years before parole.

Most of the dead were women or children, local Protestants and Catholic alike. Among those slain were an 18-month-old girl, three generations of one family including a woman pregnant with twins, two Spanish tourists and three schoolboys from the neighboring Irish Republic.

More than 300 others were wounded in the bloodiest blast in the three-decade history of conflict in Northern Ireland.

The bombing came just weeks after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement intended to end Northern Ireland's 30 years of bitter Protestant-Roman Catholic violence that has left 3,600 dead.

Several relatives of the victims of Omagh were present in court, among them Laurence Rush, whose wife Elizabeth was killed in the blast.

"It's been a long time. I am absolutely delighted," an emotional Rush told reporters afterward, adding "And I would say, may God forgive him (Murphy) for I cannot."

Michael Gallagher, whose son was killed in the bombing, told Sky Television that the verdict was "wonderful news for the families. This is hopefully the beginning of the end."

The families of Omagh victims have long been frustrated by the lack of progress in arresting and convicting those deemed responsible for the bombing.

An Irish police spokesman told reporters outside the court the verdict represented a "significant milestone" in the Omagh investigation and said police commitment to bringing those responsible to justice was as strong as ever.

The judges accepted the prosecution case that Murphy had lent his mobile phone and another from his company to another person knowing they would be used to carry out the bombing.

During the trial, Murphy's defnse team made an unsuccessful bid to have the charges dismissed on the grounds two Irish detectives had allegedly falsified interview notes.

The application was rejected, but the court branded the two detectives "discredited witnesses" and ruled their evidence inadmissible.

As the 25-day trial drew to a close a key prosecution witness, Murphy's foreman Terence Morgan, retracted his evidence, saying he had been pressured by police to testify that he lent his mobile phone to Murphy one day before the attack.

Police on both sides of the Northern Irish border have interviewed thousands of people in connection with the Omagh bombing, but to date Murphy is the only person to be brought before the courts.

One commander of the Real IRA, who was identified by police as a close associate of Murphy, has already been convicted of the lesser charge of membership in an illegal organization. The groups alleged founder, Michael McKevitt is on trial facin the same charge.

The Real IRA split from the Irish Republican Army in 1997, after the latter declared a cease-fire in its war against British rule in Northern Ireland.

The dissident republican group, which has also been blamed for more recent attacks in Northern Ireland and Britain, is opposed to the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement.