A South Armagh republican once named in court as a senior IRA commander is facing charges in Dublin of tax evasion.
Thomas “Slab” Murphy stands accused in the Irish Republic’s non-jury special criminal court of nine charges of failing to put in tax returns from 1996 to 2004.
If found guilty, Murphy could face up to five years in jail after a trial expected to last up to three weeks. The 66-year-old denies all the charges against him.
Murphy lost a libel appeal in a Dublin court in 1998 after the Sunday Times had identified him as directing the IRA’s bombing campaign in Britain as well as helping to import tonnes of weapons from Libya during the 1980s.
According to a subsequent BBC underworld rich list investigation, the South Armagh farmer was estimated to control a fortune worth £40m, earned through smuggling diesel, cigarettes, grain and pigs.
Murphy has never denied being a republican and has said he supports the peace process.
The IRA’s South Armagh Brigade, which numerous books and documentaries have alleged Murphy commands, has been loyal to the mainstream republican leadership.
After police and customs officials raided his properties straddling the Irish border in 2006, Sinn Féin’s president, Gerry Adams, defended him, stating: “Tom Murphy is not a criminal. He’s a good republican.”
Earlier this year Murphy’s legal team lost a battle to have his case heard in a normal jury-based court in Ireland.
