Thomas 'Slab' Murphy’s tax evasion trial adjourned

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Thomas 'Slab' Murphy’s trial for alleged tax evasion was adjourned before lunch on 23 October 2015 at the non-jury Special Criminal Court in Dublin. The proceedings were reported on 23 October 2015.

He has pleaded not guilty. The nine charges allege that he failed to furnish returns of his income, profits or gains, or their source, to the Collector General or the Inspector of Taxes for the years 1996/97 to 2004.

The prosecution’s case was that Murphy conducted significant dealings involving cattle and land and received Department of Agriculture farming grants but failed to make returns to Revenue. The prosecution followed a Criminal Assets Bureau investigation. The trial had previously heard that a man named Thomas Murphy sold cattle worth €190,000 to other meat factories.

Former Newgrange Meats procurement manager Vincent Murray provided gardaí with records of the Slane factory’s dealings with Thomas Murphy, the court heard. Records exhibited to the three-judge court showed that 22 cattle were slaughtered on 18 October 2004. The court heard that the cattle were supplied by Thomas Murphy.

Copies of two cheques payable to Thomas Murphy, totalling more than €15,000, were shown to the court. John Kearney QC, defending, suggested that the signatures on their backs were “clearly very different T Murphy signatures.” Murray agreed.

The report said the trial would resume on Tuesday.