OMAGH ACCUSED TO STAND TRIAL
Omagh accused to stand trial
AN ALLEGED master bomb maker was committed for trial yesterday charged with the 1998 Omagh bomb murders.
South Armagh man Sean Hoey (36) was told by Belfast magistrate Desmond Perry that after hearing three days of evidence at committal proceedings, he was satisfied there was a case to answer.
Relatives of Omagh bomb victims welcomed the decision, although the defendant's solicitor warned of the potential for another 'Guildford Four' miscarriage of justice.
The electrician, from Molly Road, Jonesborough, was remanded in custody to stand trial at Belfast Crown Court at a date to be decided. The non-jury trial is not expected to take place before next spring.
Hoey denies 58 charges relating to the Omagh bombing in August 1998 and a string of other bomb attacks carried out by the Real IRA.
Three further charges relating to a bomb at Devonishire Place in Belfast were dismissed by the magistrate.
Mr Perry said: "The Crown invited me to look at the cumulative effect of the huge quantity of evidence that the defendant was the man who manufactured these 14 devices, the most devastating of which decimated the centre of Omagh and resulted in the tragic deaths of 29 innocent people."
After dismissing defence efforts to have each charge looked at separately as "fatuous", Mr Perry said: "I am satisfied there is a case to answer."
The court had been told that Hoey could be linked by fibre evidence to eight bombs and to three more by DNA evidence for which, the magistrate said, he could find "no innocent explanation".
Mr Perry noted that Hoey was an electrician by trade and said there had been evidence that bombs made in Northern Ireland had soldering of a higher standard than those made by the Real IRA in other jurisdictions.
Hoey stood in the dock expressionless, shaking his head and mouthing the word "No" when asked if he had anything to say.
The court decision was welcomed by relatives of some of those killed in the bombing.
Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden was one of 29 people including a woman pregnant with twins killed in the Omagh bomb, sat through the proceedings with his wife.
"It is a tremendous relief to know that at least one person is going to stand trial. I hope it is only a beginning," he said.
Laurence Rush, whose wife was killed in the bomb, said he felt overcome and added: "This is one hurdle we have got over, I am very happy,"
But Hoey's solicitor, Peter Corrigan, said he feared another Guildford Four or Birmingham Six scenario and a miscarriage of justice.
He said the evidence against his client was that he "may, or possibly" constructed bombs and added: "That is not enough to send a man to trial on in one of the biggest cases in Irish or British history."
AN ALLEGED master bomb maker was committed for trial yesterday charged with the 1998 Omagh bomb murders.
South Armagh man Sean Hoey (36) was told by Belfast magistrate Desmond Perry that after hearing three days of evidence at committal proceedings, he was satisfied there was a case to answer.
Relatives of Omagh bomb victims welcomed the decision, although the defendant's solicitor warned of the potential for another 'Guildford Four' miscarriage of justice.
The electrician, from Molly Road, Jonesborough, was remanded in custody to stand trial at Belfast Crown Court at a date to be decided. The non-jury trial is not expected to take place before next spring.
Hoey denies 58 charges relating to the Omagh bombing in August 1998 and a string of other bomb attacks carried out by the Real IRA.
Three further charges relating to a bomb at Devonishire Place in Belfast were dismissed by the magistrate.
Mr Perry said: "The Crown invited me to look at the cumulative effect of the huge quantity of evidence that the defendant was the man who manufactured these 14 devices, the most devastating of which decimated the centre of Omagh and resulted in the tragic deaths of 29 innocent people."
After dismissing defence efforts to have each charge looked at separately as "fatuous", Mr Perry said: "I am satisfied there is a case to answer."
The court had been told that Hoey could be linked by fibre evidence to eight bombs and to three more by DNA evidence for which, the magistrate said, he could find "no innocent explanation".
Mr Perry noted that Hoey was an electrician by trade and said there had been evidence that bombs made in Northern Ireland had soldering of a higher standard than those made by the Real IRA in other jurisdictions.
Hoey stood in the dock expressionless, shaking his head and mouthing the word "No" when asked if he had anything to say.
The court decision was welcomed by relatives of some of those killed in the bombing.
Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden was one of 29 people including a woman pregnant with twins killed in the Omagh bomb, sat through the proceedings with his wife.
"It is a tremendous relief to know that at least one person is going to stand trial. I hope it is only a beginning," he said.
Laurence Rush, whose wife was killed in the bomb, said he felt overcome and added: "This is one hurdle we have got over, I am very happy,"
But Hoey's solicitor, Peter Corrigan, said he feared another Guildford Four or Birmingham Six scenario and a miscarriage of justice.
He said the evidence against his client was that he "may, or possibly" constructed bombs and added: "That is not enough to send a man to trial on in one of the biggest cases in Irish or British history."
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0755
Published Date: 03-Sep-05
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