MURDER CHARGE TO FOLLOW NEW PROBE BY POLICE
Murder charge to follow new probe by police
By Debra Douglas
A COUNTY Armagh man is to be charged with murdering the 29 people who died in the Omagh bomb, it emerged last night.
The Director of Public Prosecutions has given police the go-ahead to charge Sean Gerard Hoey (35), from Jonesborough, Co Armagh, with the murders following a massive fresh investigation into the atrocity.
It is thought papers outlining details of the charges will be served later this month on the electrician. He is currently in custody accused of a number of other terrorist related offences and membership of the Real IRA, the main terror group behind the August 1998 bombing.
Hoey's uncle, Colm Murphy (49), a builder from Dundalk, Co Louth, is the only person to have been convicted in connection with Omagh. He was jailed in Dublin for 14 years in January 2002, but has been granted a re-trial in the Republic's Court of Criminal Appeal.
Now it is expected that a date for Hoey's trial - which will be one of the biggest mass murder trials in British and Irish legal history - will be set for later this year.
Apart from the 29 killed in the no-warning blast, including a woman pregnant with twins, more than 300 were hurt in what was the worst single terrorist outrage of the Troubles.
Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden was among those killed, welcomed the news.
"It has been a long, difficult seven years, but we are absolutely delighted with the news," he said.
"I am confident more people will also be brought before the court. I was so relieved to hear there was going to be a charge as I think it is important.
"It sends out a strong message to people who plant bombs and commit terrorist acts that they will be brought before the court. I think that is something that has been lacking in our society."
Solicitor Victor Barker from Surrey, whose son James (12), was killed in the blast, was also pleased by the news.
"It's marvellous, but it has taken an awful long time. This is down to the dedication of the new investigation team and we're grateful for Norman Baxter and the work he is doing.
"This is progress," he said.
A new inquiry was launched in 2002 after Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan criticised the original investigation.
The police files on the bombing were given to the DPP last summer after a complex 18-month review of all the forensic evidence by scientists from outside Northern Ireland.
A PSNI spokesperson said the Omagh inquiry is "very much a live investigation".
"The current position is that the senior investigating officer has received directions from the DPP which are being processed," he said.
Hoey, who is being held at Maghaberry Prison, is also accused of explosives charges as well as possessing timer units allegedly linked to several mortar, car and roadside bombs in the months before Omagh.
He is due to appear at a remand hearing at Craigavon on May 19.
It is thought the civil case by relatives of Omagh bomb victims to sue Colm Murphy and four others could now be postponed due to Hoey's impending trial.
By Debra Douglas
A COUNTY Armagh man is to be charged with murdering the 29 people who died in the Omagh bomb, it emerged last night.
The Director of Public Prosecutions has given police the go-ahead to charge Sean Gerard Hoey (35), from Jonesborough, Co Armagh, with the murders following a massive fresh investigation into the atrocity.
It is thought papers outlining details of the charges will be served later this month on the electrician. He is currently in custody accused of a number of other terrorist related offences and membership of the Real IRA, the main terror group behind the August 1998 bombing.
Hoey's uncle, Colm Murphy (49), a builder from Dundalk, Co Louth, is the only person to have been convicted in connection with Omagh. He was jailed in Dublin for 14 years in January 2002, but has been granted a re-trial in the Republic's Court of Criminal Appeal.
Now it is expected that a date for Hoey's trial - which will be one of the biggest mass murder trials in British and Irish legal history - will be set for later this year.
Apart from the 29 killed in the no-warning blast, including a woman pregnant with twins, more than 300 were hurt in what was the worst single terrorist outrage of the Troubles.
Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden was among those killed, welcomed the news.
"It has been a long, difficult seven years, but we are absolutely delighted with the news," he said.
"I am confident more people will also be brought before the court. I was so relieved to hear there was going to be a charge as I think it is important.
"It sends out a strong message to people who plant bombs and commit terrorist acts that they will be brought before the court. I think that is something that has been lacking in our society."
Solicitor Victor Barker from Surrey, whose son James (12), was killed in the blast, was also pleased by the news.
"It's marvellous, but it has taken an awful long time. This is down to the dedication of the new investigation team and we're grateful for Norman Baxter and the work he is doing.
"This is progress," he said.
A new inquiry was launched in 2002 after Police Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan criticised the original investigation.
The police files on the bombing were given to the DPP last summer after a complex 18-month review of all the forensic evidence by scientists from outside Northern Ireland.
A PSNI spokesperson said the Omagh inquiry is "very much a live investigation".
"The current position is that the senior investigating officer has received directions from the DPP which are being processed," he said.
Hoey, who is being held at Maghaberry Prison, is also accused of explosives charges as well as possessing timer units allegedly linked to several mortar, car and roadside bombs in the months before Omagh.
He is due to appear at a remand hearing at Craigavon on May 19.
It is thought the civil case by relatives of Omagh bomb victims to sue Colm Murphy and four others could now be postponed due to Hoey's impending trial.
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/0961
Published Date: 05-May-05
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