ELECTRICIAN (35) REMANDED ON OMAGH BOMB MURDER CHARGES
Electrician (35) remanded on Omagh bomb murder charges
A 35-YEAR-OLD electrician was remanded in custody yesterday charged with 61 offences relating to the Omagh bombing, including 29 murders.
Sean Gerard Hoey, from south Armagh, appeared at Craigavon Magistrates Court, also charged with 23 explosives offences and conspiracy to murder members of the security forces.
Mr Hoey, from Molly Road in Jonesborough, was remanded in custody to Maghaberry Prison to appear before Belfast magistrates on May 31. He did not enter a plea.
Dressed in a brown jumper and jeans, the defendant showed little emotion as the charges were read out.
He spoke only to confirm his name.
His solicitor, Peter Corrigan, told the court that the prosecution team had not provided any new evidence to allow the case to continue and said that delays in the case were an abuse of process.
Mr Corrigan asked the court to order the prosecution team to serve the defence with information and details of an international review commission into the Omagh bomb attack.
Magistrate Alan White refused the application and ordered Mr Hoey to appear at the Laganside courts complex in Belfast next Tuesday.
"It is obviously in the interests of justice and the interests of everybody that the matter is determined at the earliest stage," Mr White said.
But he ruled that Belfast Magistrates Court was in a better position to rule on the issues raised by Mr Corrigan.
Relatives of the 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins, who were killed in the bomb attack in August 1998, sat in court as the charges were read out.
Michael Gallagher, whose21-year-old son Aidan was killed, welcomed the murder charge being brought, seven years after the worst single atrocity of the Troubles.
"It is a very sobering experience to hear all the names of the victims read out, including your only son, and to see the man standing in front of you who is accused of being the perpetrator," he said.
"Some of the families I did not know, but after the bomb I have come to know a lot of them and all about them. I hope there will be further prosecutions in the north and I hope that this is not the last time I stand here." Frustrated at the lack of progress in the police investigation, relatives of the Omagh atrocity victims have mounted a separate civil action against those suspected of involvement in the attack.
A 35-YEAR-OLD electrician was remanded in custody yesterday charged with 61 offences relating to the Omagh bombing, including 29 murders.
Sean Gerard Hoey, from south Armagh, appeared at Craigavon Magistrates Court, also charged with 23 explosives offences and conspiracy to murder members of the security forces.
Mr Hoey, from Molly Road in Jonesborough, was remanded in custody to Maghaberry Prison to appear before Belfast magistrates on May 31. He did not enter a plea.
Dressed in a brown jumper and jeans, the defendant showed little emotion as the charges were read out.
He spoke only to confirm his name.
His solicitor, Peter Corrigan, told the court that the prosecution team had not provided any new evidence to allow the case to continue and said that delays in the case were an abuse of process.
Mr Corrigan asked the court to order the prosecution team to serve the defence with information and details of an international review commission into the Omagh bomb attack.
Magistrate Alan White refused the application and ordered Mr Hoey to appear at the Laganside courts complex in Belfast next Tuesday.
"It is obviously in the interests of justice and the interests of everybody that the matter is determined at the earliest stage," Mr White said.
But he ruled that Belfast Magistrates Court was in a better position to rule on the issues raised by Mr Corrigan.
Relatives of the 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins, who were killed in the bomb attack in August 1998, sat in court as the charges were read out.
Michael Gallagher, whose21-year-old son Aidan was killed, welcomed the murder charge being brought, seven years after the worst single atrocity of the Troubles.
"It is a very sobering experience to hear all the names of the victims read out, including your only son, and to see the man standing in front of you who is accused of being the perpetrator," he said.
"Some of the families I did not know, but after the bomb I have come to know a lot of them and all about them. I hope there will be further prosecutions in the north and I hope that this is not the last time I stand here." Frustrated at the lack of progress in the police investigation, relatives of the Omagh atrocity victims have mounted a separate civil action against those suspected of involvement in the attack.
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0742
Published Date: 27-May-05
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