BT/1067

Omagh trio want video link

THREE men being sued over the Omagh bomb atrocity may not "have the guts" to turn up in person for the trial, the High Court heard yesterday.
Lord Brennan QC, for the families taking the £14m compensation case, made the claim as he urged a judge to resist letting defendants give evidence through a video link.
The Real IRA outrage killed 29 people in August 1998.
Seamus Daly, Colm Murphy and Seamus McKenna want to use video links to avoid leaving the Republic for the trial which is due to begin at the High Court in Belfast on April 7.
One reason mentioned was any risk of being exposed to criminal procedures if they cross the border. A lawyer for McKenna suggested a courthouse in Dundalk as a possible venue for them to give evidence from.
But Lord Brennan insisted a video link connection should only be granted for reasons of witness safety.
He claimed: "There's a serious suspicion on our part that the application from these three men will be based on the fact they are all convicted terrorists and won't have the guts to turn up and be cross-examined on the due date."
Mr Justice Morgan replied that anyone facing the threat of a criminal process may be entitled to us such a system. He added: "At the moment I have nothing to indicate to me a basis upon which I should conclude there's a risk to any of these defendants from coming to these proceedings in Northern Ireland."