A man charged with conspiracy to cause the Omagh bomb explosion in 1998, which resulted in 29 deaths, has settled his High Court action for contempt over an article published in the Daily Mail newspaper.
The proceedings taken by Mr Colm Murphy (48), of Ravensdale, Dundalk, were struck out by Mr Justice Kelly yesterday after Mr Richard Humphreys said the matter had been resolved on the basis of a statement to be read to the court.
The statement said: "Mr Colm Murphy is awaiting trial in the Special Criminal Court on charges of membership of an unlawful organisation and conspiring to cause an explosion, where the explosion in question is the Omagh bombing in August 1998.
The prosecution case is that Mr Murphy knowingly allowed his mobile phone and that of an employee to be used by persons connected with the bombing. Mr Murphy is pleading not guilty to both of the charges against him and is due to be tried in October 2001.
"On October 9th 2000, the BBC broadcast a Panorama programme which claimed to identify the people responsible for the Omagh bombing. Subsequent to that the Daily Mail on November 28th 2000 published an appeal for funds for a civil action against the persons named by Panorama as responsible for the bombing.
"The Daily Mail wishes to make clear that Mr Colm Murphy is entitled to be presumed innocent of the charges preferred against him unless or until proven guilty."
