VICTIM'S ARE STUNNED BY CLEARING OF BLAST CRIMES
Victims are stunned by 'clearing' of blast crimes
BY JONATHAN McCAMBRIDGE
CRIME CORRESPONDENT
A FATHER whose son died in the Omagh bomb said today that the town had been left stunned after the Belfast Telegraph revealed that 550 crimes committed during the 1998 actrocity are considered "cleared" by police.
Earlier this month this paper revealed that Home Office crime counting rules mean that 562 crimes committed when the Real IRA bombed Omagh are already counted as cleared by police despite nobody being brought to justice.
The 29 murders have been cleared by the charging of Sean Hoey, who is awaiting trial.
Another 533 wounding offences were considered cleared despite nobody being charged. The Public Prosecution Service received a file from the PSNI and directed no prosecution over the wounding crimes.
Michael Gallagher, who lost his son Aiden in the atrocity, said there was widespread disbelief in the town at the story.
"It came as a shock and then the aftermath was widespread anger. It made many people feel that their suffering had been for nothing. It went right throughout Omagh and beyond.
"There were a lot of victims who came forward to me to say how they felt let-down by the system. The real disgust is that we had to learn all of this through the Belfast Telegraph, that nobody had explained this to us about the crimes being cleared.
"I know people who were injured in the bomb who had not spoken publicly for years but they were so angry about this that they considered it. Lots and lots of people were talking about it and people were coming to me to see the paper because they could not believe it.
"Omagh was a horrific crime. You cannot wipe out the loss of 31 lives, hundreds of people who were injured, some who lost limbs and the mental trauma, by saying that it has been cleared.
"This is not about justice it is about good book-keeping by the police. I think it sends out totally the wrong message that Omagh is all over and that a lot of people have got away with this crime."
Mr Gallagher said he was meeting with police this morning to discuss the case and would be raising the Belfast Telegraph story. He said he would be seeking reassurances that the investigation was still live.
The Omagh crimes were counted as cleared by the PSNI during the 2005/2006 financial year and would have contributed to the increased number of clearances recorded by police in their end-of-year statistics.
The PSNI uses the controversial Home Office crime counting rules which are a requirement of every police force in the UK.
BY JONATHAN McCAMBRIDGE
CRIME CORRESPONDENT
A FATHER whose son died in the Omagh bomb said today that the town had been left stunned after the Belfast Telegraph revealed that 550 crimes committed during the 1998 actrocity are considered "cleared" by police.
Earlier this month this paper revealed that Home Office crime counting rules mean that 562 crimes committed when the Real IRA bombed Omagh are already counted as cleared by police despite nobody being brought to justice.
The 29 murders have been cleared by the charging of Sean Hoey, who is awaiting trial.
Another 533 wounding offences were considered cleared despite nobody being charged. The Public Prosecution Service received a file from the PSNI and directed no prosecution over the wounding crimes.
Michael Gallagher, who lost his son Aiden in the atrocity, said there was widespread disbelief in the town at the story.
"It came as a shock and then the aftermath was widespread anger. It made many people feel that their suffering had been for nothing. It went right throughout Omagh and beyond.
"There were a lot of victims who came forward to me to say how they felt let-down by the system. The real disgust is that we had to learn all of this through the Belfast Telegraph, that nobody had explained this to us about the crimes being cleared.
"I know people who were injured in the bomb who had not spoken publicly for years but they were so angry about this that they considered it. Lots and lots of people were talking about it and people were coming to me to see the paper because they could not believe it.
"Omagh was a horrific crime. You cannot wipe out the loss of 31 lives, hundreds of people who were injured, some who lost limbs and the mental trauma, by saying that it has been cleared.
"This is not about justice it is about good book-keeping by the police. I think it sends out totally the wrong message that Omagh is all over and that a lot of people have got away with this crime."
Mr Gallagher said he was meeting with police this morning to discuss the case and would be raising the Belfast Telegraph story. He said he would be seeking reassurances that the investigation was still live.
The Omagh crimes were counted as cleared by the PSNI during the 2005/2006 financial year and would have contributed to the increased number of clearances recorded by police in their end-of-year statistics.
The PSNI uses the controversial Home Office crime counting rules which are a requirement of every police force in the UK.
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/1063
Published Date: 01-Sep-06
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