IRA Murder Suspect Charged After 30 Years

Detective Superintendent Norman Baxter stated that police investigators 'didn't have access to the intelligence' that would have allowed them to arrest the Real IRA team before the Omagh bombing, which could have saved the lives of 29 people. Instead, the gang was given free rein from 1997, with a string of earlier incidents involving the same group that could have been disrupted. The Omagh blast on August 15, 1998, was the worst single atrocity of the Troubles.

Key Takeaways:

• Kevin Crilly, a 59-year-old woodcutter, was charged with the 1977 murder of British Army intelligence officer Captain Robert Nairac, who was undercover and singing Republican songs in a Northern Ireland pub when he was seized and killed.
• Crilly was already facing charges of kidnapping and falsely imprisoning Grenadier Guardsman Captain Nairac and was arrested last May after returning from the U.S. to live in South Armagh.
• Detectives discovered hair from the victim in a car used by Crilly, and police said that hair was connected to the murder charge.
• Crilly was granted bail and was able to leave the court after an hour-long delay to establish if prosecutors would appeal against the decision.
• The abduction and murder of Captain Nairac is considered one of the most brutal incidents in the Troubles, and three men have already been convicted of the murder and have received hefty jail sentences.
• The Omagh bombing could have been prevented if intelligence services had shared information with police, according to Norman Baxter, the man who investigated the murders.
• The Real IRA team had a string of earlier incidents involving the same gang, which could have been disrupted with the right information.
• The Omagh blast on August 15, 1998, was the worst single atrocity of the Troubles.

Statistics:

• 29 people were killed in the Omagh bombing on August 15, 1998.
• 3 men have already been convicted of the murder of Captain Robert Nairac and have received hefty jail sentences.
• 30 years passed between the disappearance of Captain Nairac in 1977 and his suspected murderer, Kevin Crilly, being charged.
• The Real IRA team had free rein from 1997, according to Detective Superintendent Norman Baxter.
• 29 lives could have been saved if police had access to the intelligence that was later used to convict the Real IRA team after the Omagh bombing.

Sources:

• "IRA murder suspect charged after 30 years" by Daily Mail reporters (source date unknown).
• "Terrorists behind Omagh bombing could have been arrested before atrocity, investigator claims" by Daily Mail reporters (source date unknown).
• Daily Mail (exact date unknown).