Thomas ‘Slab’ Murphy has been jailed for 18 months for tax evasion.
Last December, the 66-year-old, who lives at Ballybinaby, Hackballscross, Co. Louth, was found guilty on all nine counts before the Special Criminal Court.
Thomas ‘Slab’ Murphy’s prosecution began ten years ago when his farm was raided by the Criminal Assets Bureau.
Hidden inside some hay bales in an outhouse on his land, officers found bags of money, un-cashed cheques, computers, ledgers and documents.
He was eventually charged with not filing tax returns for his farming activities between 1996 and 2004.
He claimed he’d been the victim of an identity theft but following a 32-day trial that ended just before Christmas, the non-jury court didn’t believe him.
His total tax liability stands at €190k including penalties and interest.
In handing down sentence today, Mr. Justice Paul Butler said he was mindful of the effect a prison sentence would have on a man of his age and also took his otherwise clean criminal record into account but said the court had been left with no choice but to hand down an 18 month prison sentence.
