OMAGH: EX-WIFE LIED ABOUT PHONE CALLS
Omagh: ex-wife 'lied about phone calls'
BY LESLEY-ANNE HENRY
lhenry@belfastlelegraph.co.uk
THE ex-wife of a suspected Omagh bomber lied to police about a telephone call she received less than an hour after the blast, a detective claimed in court yesterday.
Giving evidence during day seven of a landmark civil action being brought by victims' relatives, John Gilmore, an RUC detective constable, said Catherine McKenna, who was married to the first named defendant Seamus McKenna, had also lied about her whereabouts on August 15, 1998.
Belfast High Court heard how Mrs McKenna, who was arrested as part of a joint RUC and Garda operation in June 1999, initially agreed that she had received a phone call from her estranged husband on the day of the bombing but subsequently changed her story and claimed to have been in Galway on that day.
Mr Gilmore, who interviewed Mrs McKenna at Strand Road RUC station, said: "It transpired that she had been telling lies. She hadn't been in Galway on August 15."
Meanwhile barrister Brian Fee QC, who is representing Mr McKenna, described Catherine McKenna's arrest as unexpected and distressing.
He told the court she was flown by helicopter from her home to Bessbrook, Co Armagh and then driven to Londonderry where she was interviewed 17 times. Mr Fee said the arrest had caused a "distressing scene" with Mrs McKenna's children "screaming and crying as the helicopter was taking her away".
He read transcripts of an interview in which Mrs McKenna was made aware of the gravity of her situation.
"Serious offences. They don't come much more serious than the murder of 29 people," she was told.
Mr Fee suggested Mrs McKenna was an extremely frightened and nervous woman who was so scared she was unable to steady her hand to sign her statements.
"It was abundantly clear from the outset of your interviewing of her that she was an extremely suggestible lady. If you said something to her, her natural inclination was to try and agree with it," he said.
Also in the witness box yesterday, another detective told the court how investigators had analysed more than five million mobile phone calls 'roaming' in Northern Ireland between January and September 1998.
The trial continues.
BY LESLEY-ANNE HENRY
lhenry@belfastlelegraph.co.uk
THE ex-wife of a suspected Omagh bomber lied to police about a telephone call she received less than an hour after the blast, a detective claimed in court yesterday.
Giving evidence during day seven of a landmark civil action being brought by victims' relatives, John Gilmore, an RUC detective constable, said Catherine McKenna, who was married to the first named defendant Seamus McKenna, had also lied about her whereabouts on August 15, 1998.
Belfast High Court heard how Mrs McKenna, who was arrested as part of a joint RUC and Garda operation in June 1999, initially agreed that she had received a phone call from her estranged husband on the day of the bombing but subsequently changed her story and claimed to have been in Galway on that day.
Mr Gilmore, who interviewed Mrs McKenna at Strand Road RUC station, said: "It transpired that she had been telling lies. She hadn't been in Galway on August 15."
Meanwhile barrister Brian Fee QC, who is representing Mr McKenna, described Catherine McKenna's arrest as unexpected and distressing.
He told the court she was flown by helicopter from her home to Bessbrook, Co Armagh and then driven to Londonderry where she was interviewed 17 times. Mr Fee said the arrest had caused a "distressing scene" with Mrs McKenna's children "screaming and crying as the helicopter was taking her away".
He read transcripts of an interview in which Mrs McKenna was made aware of the gravity of her situation.
"Serious offences. They don't come much more serious than the murder of 29 people," she was told.
Mr Fee suggested Mrs McKenna was an extremely frightened and nervous woman who was so scared she was unable to steady her hand to sign her statements.
"It was abundantly clear from the outset of your interviewing of her that she was an extremely suggestible lady. If you said something to her, her natural inclination was to try and agree with it," he said.
Also in the witness box yesterday, another detective told the court how investigators had analysed more than five million mobile phone calls 'roaming' in Northern Ireland between January and September 1998.
The trial continues.
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/1084
Published Date: 17-Apr-08
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