II10An/11

Officials admit it will take new evidence secure conviction
Shane Phelan and David Young

SECURITY forces on both sides of the Border admit that significant new evidence will have to come to light before anyone can be convicted of the Omagh atrocity 10 years ago.
So far no one has been brought to justice and the investigation on both sides of the Border has been criticised by relatives of the bombing victims.
The handling of the PSNI investigation was also severely criticised by the Northern Police Ombudsman, who said the inquiry was hampered by "poor judgment and a lack or urgency" at the very highest levels of the police force.
While two men have gone on trial in connection with the bombing, which claimed the lives of 29 people and two unborn babies and injured more that 300 others, no one is behind bars.
Armagh-born publican and electrical contractor Colm Murphy, with an address at Ravensdale, Co Louth, was jailed for involvement in the bombing at the Special Criminal Court in Dublin, but that conviction was later quashed.
His nephew, electrician Sean Hoey, from Jonesborough, in south Armagh, was acquitted of the charges against him at Belfast Crown Court last year.
An €18m civil action taken by the families of some of the bombing victims against five men they believe were responsible maybe their final hope of holding someone responsible.
The five men named in the action are Colm Murphy, Seamus McKenna, Michael McKevitt, Liam Campbell and Seamus Daly.
Initially, police forces on both sides of the Border appeared to have made significant progress. Within six weeks of the bombing, some 12 people had been arrested and questioned, but all were subsequently released without charge.
Suspects
The following February, seven suspects were arrested and questioned. A few days later, Mr Murphy was charged with conspiring to cause an explosion. But in December 2001, the investigation north of the: border was rocked by criticism from the Ombudsman Nuala O'Loan.
Her report on the initial RUC investigation accused officers of ignoring warnings from informants that dissident republicans were planning an attack in Omagh.
She also recommended a fresh investigation into the case by the PSNI, which had replaced the RUC the previous Monday.
In January of 2002, Mr J Murphy was convicted in the Special Criminal Court and sentenced to 14 years in prison.
In August of the following year, Michael McKevitt was convicted in the same court for membership of the Real IRA and "directing terrorism between August 29, 1999 October 23, 2000 and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The prosecution case based on the testimony of informant David Rupert.
By January of 2005, Mr Murphy's conviction had been quashed by the Court of Criminal Appeal and a retrial ordered.
However, more than three years later, a new trial date yet to be set.
Four months after Mr J Murphy's conviction was quashed his nephew, Sean Hoey, charged with murdering the victims.
His trial began in Belfast September 2006, but he acquitted of all 56 charges against him in December of last year.