A man reputed to be the former chief of the Provisional Irish Republican Army paramilitary group was on Friday jailed for 18 months for tax evasion in Ireland. At a hearing at Dublin's Special Criminal Court, Thomas Murphy, nicknamed "Slab", was sentenced to jail following an investigation that lasted more than 10 years. He has always insisted he was simply a farmer although he was widely identified by sources in Irish media and books as the former chief of staff of the PIRA.
In December, Murphy was found guilty of nine counts of tax evasion related to not filing tax returns, charges he denied. He is expected to appeal. Irish senator Mairia Cahill welcomed the sentence. "Justice has finally caught up with this notorious individual," she said. "For many years, there have been substantial allegations that he is at the heart of republican activity - criminal and otherwise - in South Armagh. These allegations include matters far worse than tax evasion." Police raided Murphy's farm at Ballybinaby in County Louth, near the border with Northern Ireland, in 2006 when they seized around a million euros in cash and cheques along with 30,000 cigarettes and two firearms.