DUBLIN, Ireland - The only man convicted in connection with Northern Ireland's deadliest bombing walked free from prison Friday after winning an appeal and posting bail, an outcome that disgusted survivors of the 1998 blast.
Three years ago, Colm Murphy, 52, received a 14-year sentence for allegedly supplying two cell phones to Irish Republican Army (news - web sites) dissidents who detonated a car bomb in the town of Omagh, killing 29 people and wounding more than 300.
But last week, appellate judges threw out his conviction after finding that two detectives who interrogated Murphy in 1999 rewrote their interview notes and denied doing this under oath. The trial judges who convicted Murphy had accepted accounts from other detectives, who said Murphy had confessed to supplying the phones.
On Friday, Murphy, 52, posted bail of $65,000 in cash provided by his sister and daughter. His retrial, if it happens at all, isn't expected to begin until after the two accused detectives stand trial on perjury charges.
A widower of one woman killed in Omagh, Laurence Rush, denounced Murphy from the public gallery of the Court of Criminal Appeal and appealed to the judges not to let him go.
But the judges barred journalists from reporting Rush's detailed allegations of criminality against Murphy, saying this would violate his rights pending a retrial.
Outside court, Rush — whose wife, Libbi, was crushed when the blast leveled her furniture shop — said he would never forgive Murphy and would pray for his eventual return to prison.
Murphy refused to comment as he walked free and went into a pub with friends.
Outside the pub, his daughter Leonora read a statement expressing delight with his freedom — and disgust with what happened in Omagh.
"Our hearts go out to the people of Omagh who have lost their loved ones. It was a terrible atrocity which should never have happened, but also one that destroyed my father's life," she said.
Murphy's bail conditions require him to surrender his passport and to report daily to his local police station in Dundalk, a town bordering Northern Ireland — a British territory that IRA dissidents are still trying to attack with occasional bombs.
Murphy is a veteran anti-British militant. He was convicted twice for possessing arms in 1972 and 1976, the latter after being caught following a prison escape.
In 1983, he was caught in New York trying to buy heavy machine guns from undercover FBI (news - web sites) officers and served two years of a five-year sentence before being deported to Ireland.
But as part of their acquittal ruling last week, judges ruled that the original trial judges based their conviction in part on Murphy's previous criminal record, which undermined his right to be presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Murphy is one of five men being sued by survivors of the Omagh blast for $19 million. The civil suit, unprecedented in the history of Northern Ireland, is expected to begin later this year. Three of the four others are behind bars in the Republic of Ireland, serving sentences for other dissident IRA activities.
Three years ago, Colm Murphy, 52, received a 14-year sentence for allegedly supplying two cell phones to Irish Republican Army (news - web sites) dissidents who detonated a car bomb in the town of Omagh, killing 29 people and wounding more than 300.
But last week, appellate judges threw out his conviction after finding that two detectives who interrogated Murphy in 1999 rewrote their interview notes and denied doing this under oath. The trial judges who convicted Murphy had accepted accounts from other detectives, who said Murphy had confessed to supplying the phones.
On Friday, Murphy, 52, posted bail of $65,000 in cash provided by his sister and daughter. His retrial, if it happens at all, isn't expected to begin until after the two accused detectives stand trial on perjury charges.
A widower of one woman killed in Omagh, Laurence Rush, denounced Murphy from the public gallery of the Court of Criminal Appeal and appealed to the judges not to let him go.
But the judges barred journalists from reporting Rush's detailed allegations of criminality against Murphy, saying this would violate his rights pending a retrial.
Outside court, Rush — whose wife, Libbi, was crushed when the blast leveled her furniture shop — said he would never forgive Murphy and would pray for his eventual return to prison.
Murphy refused to comment as he walked free and went into a pub with friends.
Outside the pub, his daughter Leonora read a statement expressing delight with his freedom — and disgust with what happened in Omagh.
"Our hearts go out to the people of Omagh who have lost their loved ones. It was a terrible atrocity which should never have happened, but also one that destroyed my father's life," she said.
Murphy's bail conditions require him to surrender his passport and to report daily to his local police station in Dundalk, a town bordering Northern Ireland — a British territory that IRA dissidents are still trying to attack with occasional bombs.
Murphy is a veteran anti-British militant. He was convicted twice for possessing arms in 1972 and 1976, the latter after being caught following a prison escape.
In 1983, he was caught in New York trying to buy heavy machine guns from undercover FBI (news - web sites) officers and served two years of a five-year sentence before being deported to Ireland.
But as part of their acquittal ruling last week, judges ruled that the original trial judges based their conviction in part on Murphy's previous criminal record, which undermined his right to be presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
Murphy is one of five men being sued by survivors of the Omagh blast for $19 million. The civil suit, unprecedented in the history of Northern Ireland, is expected to begin later this year. Three of the four others are behind bars in the Republic of Ireland, serving sentences for other dissident IRA activities.
