BT/1087

Omagh families may only get £2,500'
BY LESLEY-ANNE HENRY
lhenry@belfasttelegraph.co.uk

FAMILIES taking a multi million pound civil case against suspected Omagh bombers may only receive £2,500 in damages, a barrister told Belfast High Court yesterday.
Mary Higgins QC, acting for two of the five men being sued over their alleged involvement in the 1998 mass murder, also described the landmark action as a state-funded "surrogate" for criminal proceedings.
Mrs Higgins, who represents Colm Murphy and Seamus Daly, told day 13 of the Omagh trial that it was "distinguished" from normal civil litigation because it was not about the money. Instead she claimed the unprecedented civil suit was as a "name and shame" exercise designed to punish those believed to be behind the bombing.
She also claimed that without the "unusual" Government grant of £1.6m the families could never have reached court. This money, she said, was given on the back of widespread public outrage and because the Omagh families' represented the "greater good".
If the defendants, who are all assisted by Legal Aid, were found liable for the bomb then Mrs Higgins claimed the Government would have to pursue the Real IRA for the money.
She told the court: "If those costs are not recovered from the defendants then any damages the plaintiffs receive, whether from Real IRA funds... in America or otherwise are going to be clawed back by the Government. So (in that case) the maximum any plaintiff is going to receive is £2,500."
Mrs Higgins referred the court to numerous newspaper articles and argued that the families were using civil laws as a "weapon" against organised crime and terrorist groups and quoted newspaper articles in which their solicitor Jason McCue told journalists "justice" was their prime motive for pursuing the case.
At hearing.