OMAGH BOMB RELATIVES TAKE STAND IN LANDMARK CIVIL ACTION
Omagh bomb relatives take stand in landmark civil action
BY LESLEY-ANNE HENRY
lhenry@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
RELATIVES of Omagh bomb victims are due to take the stand today at a civil action being brought against the alleged perpetrators.
Week six of the ground-breaking compensation claim has been set aside to deal with the issue of damages and to hear evidence from the families of six people killed.
First into the witness box is expected to be Mark Breslin whose wife of just two years died when the explosion ripped through Market Street on August 15, 1998.
Geraldine Breslin (43) had been working in Bogues jewellery shop and was evacuated into the path of the blast after the terrorists gave confused warnings.
The mother-of-one suffered serious injuries and died following emergency surgery at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.
Also among those giving evidence will be Michael Gallagher, whose 21-year-old only son Aiden died, Stanley McComb who lost his wife Anne, as well as relatives of teenagers Alan Radford and Lorraine Wilson and 36-year-old Esther Gibson.
The �14m case returned to Belfast High Court yesterday after a two-week stint in Dublin's Four Courts where evidence from Garda officers was heard.
Five men - Real IRA quartermaster Michael McKevitt, his alleged director of operations Liam Campbell, so-called Real IRA foot-soldiers Seamus McKenna and Seamus Daly, and Colm Murphy who is accused of being a member of the Continuity IRA - are being sued by the families of six victims.
All five deny any involvement in the bombing that killed 29 people and unborn twin girls and injured 200 more.
Yesterday Lord Daniel Brennan QC, a barrister acting on behalf of the families, argued that exemplary damages should be awarded to "punish and deter" terrorists.
Lord Brennan said the bombers had exerted "real power in the most awful, criminal way" and should be held to account.
He said if the courts did not award exemplary damages then "the ordinary person would find this an utterly unacceptable state of affairs".
And he said the courts would have to find "convincing intellectual argument" if they did not.
Brian Fee QC, acting for Seamus McKenna, rejected the submission but reserved to make any further comment until later in the case.
Legal representatives for Seamus Daly and Michael McKevitt also reserved their position on Lord Brennan's submission.
No-one has been convicted of carrying out the Omagh bombing. Last December Sean Hoey, an electrician from Jonesborough in south Armagh, was acquitted of all charges connected with the Omagh atrocity.
BY LESLEY-ANNE HENRY
lhenry@belfasttelegraph.co.uk
RELATIVES of Omagh bomb victims are due to take the stand today at a civil action being brought against the alleged perpetrators.
Week six of the ground-breaking compensation claim has been set aside to deal with the issue of damages and to hear evidence from the families of six people killed.
First into the witness box is expected to be Mark Breslin whose wife of just two years died when the explosion ripped through Market Street on August 15, 1998.
Geraldine Breslin (43) had been working in Bogues jewellery shop and was evacuated into the path of the blast after the terrorists gave confused warnings.
The mother-of-one suffered serious injuries and died following emergency surgery at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.
Also among those giving evidence will be Michael Gallagher, whose 21-year-old only son Aiden died, Stanley McComb who lost his wife Anne, as well as relatives of teenagers Alan Radford and Lorraine Wilson and 36-year-old Esther Gibson.
The �14m case returned to Belfast High Court yesterday after a two-week stint in Dublin's Four Courts where evidence from Garda officers was heard.
Five men - Real IRA quartermaster Michael McKevitt, his alleged director of operations Liam Campbell, so-called Real IRA foot-soldiers Seamus McKenna and Seamus Daly, and Colm Murphy who is accused of being a member of the Continuity IRA - are being sued by the families of six victims.
All five deny any involvement in the bombing that killed 29 people and unborn twin girls and injured 200 more.
Yesterday Lord Daniel Brennan QC, a barrister acting on behalf of the families, argued that exemplary damages should be awarded to "punish and deter" terrorists.
Lord Brennan said the bombers had exerted "real power in the most awful, criminal way" and should be held to account.
He said if the courts did not award exemplary damages then "the ordinary person would find this an utterly unacceptable state of affairs".
And he said the courts would have to find "convincing intellectual argument" if they did not.
Brian Fee QC, acting for Seamus McKenna, rejected the submission but reserved to make any further comment until later in the case.
Legal representatives for Seamus Daly and Michael McKevitt also reserved their position on Lord Brennan's submission.
No-one has been convicted of carrying out the Omagh bombing. Last December Sean Hoey, an electrician from Jonesborough in south Armagh, was acquitted of all charges connected with the Omagh atrocity.
Further Information
Publisher: BELFAST TELEGRAPH
Ref: BT/1092
Published Date: 03-Jun-08
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