Ex-IRA commander jailed for tax evasion

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/26/ex-ira-commander-thomas-slab-murphy-jailed-tax-evasion

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A former commander of the IRA has been sentenced to 18 months in jail for tax evasion.

Thomas “Slab” Murphy was jailed on Friday by Ireland’s non-jury special criminal court in Dublin for failing to file tax returns.

Murphy, from South Armagh, has been a close ally of Gerry Adams, with the Sinn Féin leader describing him as a “good republican”.

The 66-year-old, who owns a farm that straddles the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic, had denied nine charges of failing to comply with Irish tax laws.

Last December, after a 32-day trial, the three-judgetrial found him guilty on all charges of evading tax worth €190,000.

Garda evidence against Murphy included a number of black bags hidden in a hay shed on the farm that contained more than €250,000 as well as £100,000 in sterling alongside cheques, documents and laptops.

The Irish state’s case against Murphy came after an investigation by the Republic’s criminal assets bureau following a raid on his farm in 2006. This operation involved 400 police officers from both sides of the border as well as CAB and customs officials.

In 1998, Murphy lost a libel appeal in Dublin, after the Sunday Times alleged he was the director of the IRA’s bombing campaign in Britain and had helped import tonnes of weaponry in the 1980s from Col Gaddafi’s Libya.

According to a subsequent BBC investigation, Murphy was estimated to control a fortune of around £40m earned through diesel, cigarettes, grain and pig farming.

In a statement issued via his solicitor, Murphy said he maintains his innocence in respect of the charges and has instructed his legal team to “pursue an appeal immediately”.

Prior to his sentencing on Friday, a number of supporters of Murphy blocked a photojournalist from leaving his car outside the courthouse close to the entrance of Dublin’s Phoenix Park. Other individuals then took photographs of journalists gathered to film and seek to interview Murphy on the way into court. They also took pictures of car registrations of journalists at the scene.

The Murphy case became an issue during the Irish general election with Sinn Féin leaders defending him and also calling for the abolition of the special criminal court. The party was heavily criticised for supporting Murphy and their demands for the court portrayed as unrealistic given the recent upsurge in crime gang warfare in the Irish capital with Fine Gael promising to introduce a second non-jury court to deal with crime gang leaders in the state.