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20/02/02 - Bernard's TV cop
punch-up apology
by HANNAH DAVIES
NEWS REPORTER
The Evening Telegraph
NEWSPAPER bosses have apologised to former gangster
Bernard O'Mahoney for running a story claiming he had
assaulted telly cop Billy Murray at a charity ball.
The Sunday People was forced to print a retraction for
the article which had accused Mr O'Mahoney of knocking
the 55-year-old former star of The Bill to the ground.
The paper, which described Mr O'Mahoney as "a fearsome
20-stone prize-fighter", said he had rendered Mr
Murray "unconscious in a violent punch-up"
as 200 shocked party guests, Including Dean Gaffney,
Shane Ritchie and Kenny Lynch, looked on.
Mr Murray, who used to play crooked detective Don Beech,
was allegedly struck from behind and then kicked in
the ribs. The story added that Mr O'Mahoney. who lives
in Stanground. Peterborough, flew into a rage after
Murray turned his back on him at the marquee function
in Chigwell. Essex.
But Mr O'Mahoney claimed he was In Peterborough on the
day of the charity function, held to raise money for
a little girl suffering from a brain tumour. Now, nearly
five months after the story was published. Mr O'Mahoney
has finally won an apology, following talks with the
Press Complaints Commission (PCC).
In the latest edition of the Sunday People, newspaper
chiefs admitted he "was not involved in any such
attack and it was a case of mistaken identity".
The article added: The Sunday People apologises to Mr
O'Mahoney and is happy to set the record straight."
Today Mr O'Mahoney told The Evening Telegraph: "I
was furious when I read the story, because it made out
I had ruined a charity event. which I didn't even attend.
"Lots of people say things about me, and it is
water off a duck's back most of the time. But because
this was a fund-raising event.
I was really upset and keen to clear my name."
The newspaper also awarded Mr O'Mahoney an undisclosed
sum in compensation, which he has said he will give
to charity.
Gangster turned author
REFORMED gangster Bernard O'Mahoney was a partner in
a club security firm which allowed ecstasy tablets -
including the one which killed Leah Betts - to be pedalled
at an Essex nightclub.
He was also a suspect in the Rettendon Range Rover murders
in 1995, in which three of his friends were killed in
a close-range shotgun ambush.
But Mr O'Mahoney has now left his violent past behind
him and now writes books, including one about the London
and Essex crime underworld, and another about his time
in the army. |
| Contact : bernard.omahoney@bernardomahoney.com |
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