Spanish court date for footballer

By Johnny Caldwell
BBC News

William 'Winkie' Murphy is the captain of Linfield

A Belfast footballer being held in a Spanish prison on a counterfeit currency charge is to appear before a court in Madrid on Wednesday.

Linfield captain William 'Winkie' Murphy was arrested earlier this month in the holiday resort of Torremolinos.

In a statement released to BBC News, through his solicitor Denis Moloney, Mr Murphy's wife Irene said: "This was an old offence - going back to 2007.

"He pleaded not guilty then and is continuing to do so."

Next week's court appearance will be for a remand hearing.

Mrs Murphy continued: "There has been considerable media speculation about William's arrest and likely outcome.

"This has only increased apprehension for myself, our children and extended family.

"He was arrested within hours of arriving in Malaga, then moved to Madrid, however, his legal team has not even received the relevant papers yet."

Mrs Murphy added that the matter had "absolutely nothing to do with his role as Linfield captain, a position he only took up last season".

Stag party

The footballer had been on a stag party with some team-mates when he was arrested on 16 May.

In 2007, he was detained for allegedly passing counterfeit money, but was released and allowed to return to Northern Ireland.

It remains unclear what, if any, conditions were attached to Mr Murphy's release at that time.

On Wednesday, a spokeswoman for Spain's National Criminal Court confirmed that he had been formally accused of introducing counterfeit currency into Spain.

She said was this an offence which carried a minimum jail term of eight years.