BT/0926

Families start £10m action
Omagh relatives sue five in historic case
By Jonathan McCambridge

THE families of the Omagh bomb victims were in court today for the beginning of a historic legal case against those who they believe are responsible for the atrocity.
The unprecedented civil case against five men - Seamus Daly, Seamus McKenna, Michael McKevitt, Liam Campbell and Colm Murphy - was mentioned at Belfast High Court this morning.
The families are seeking £10m damages following the 1998 Real IRA bomb which killed 29 people, including the mother of unborn twins.
A provisional date, January 17 2005, was set for the trial.
Only McKevitt, McKenna and Campbell were represented in court today and their barristers indicated they were denying any involvement.
During the hearing the court was told that David Rupert, a US trucking company boss turned M15 and FBI spy, would be giving evidence via videolink from the US.
Representing the families Lord Brennan said: "This is a historic case. It is the first time in British jurisdiction that a civil case has been brought against a terrorist organisation."
He said he represented seven families who had lost relatives at Omagh and who were seeking damages for physical and psychological damage.
He said: "It is very important that a trial date is fixed today or at least a likely indication is given to the public so that these proceedings are seen to be coming to an end. "We intend to call a witness called David Rupert who on behalf of the FBI infiltrated the Real IRA and was a witness in a case against McKevitt where he was convicted.
"His involvement led to very elaborate security measures; we will be making an application for him to give the way of videolink from the US". Barristers for McKevitt, McKenna and Campbell objected to a trial date in January as they said there were outstanding issues concerning legal aid for the clients.
The barrister for McKevitt said his client was to appeal a conviction for directing terrorism in the Republic and that the appeal trial was unlikely to begin before the end of next year.
However, the judge, Mr Justice Higgins, said that while the legal aid issues needed to be resolved, they should not create a "barrier" to the case going ahead before setting the January date which he said was provisional.
Daly, McKevitt, Campbell and Murphy are all currently serving sentences in the Republic for Real IRA membership.
Murphy was sentenced to 14 years in January 2002 for plotting the Omagh attack.