BOMB ACCUSED WAS DRUNKARD EX-WIFE TELLS TRIAL
Bomb accused was drunkard ex-wife tells trial
ONE of the men being sued for the Omagh bombing was a drunkard who rarely contacted his family when sober, his ex-wife told detectives.
Catherine Ann McKenna's withering assessment of her former husband Seamus was disclosed yesterday to the multi-million-pound civil action at the High Court.
She had been questioned by police who suspected that McKenna called her home less than an hour after the bombing in August 1998 which killed 29 people including a woman pregnant with twins.
That contact, it was alleged, came from a mobile phone used in the bomb car, the court heard.
Interview transcripts were read out in which Mrs McKenna claimed her ex-husband had not been to see her and their two sons since the previous Christmas Eve - when he brought a gift for one of the children.
At one point she told a detective who asked whether her ex-husband had any past connections: "When we were married he wasn't involved in anything. All he ever really was was a drunkard."
He would be drunk nine out of 10 times when he made contact and "talking a lot of bull", she said.
McKenna is being sued along with convicted Real IRA chief Michael McKevitt, Liam Campbell, Seamus Daly and Colm Murphy by the families of some Omagh victims. All five deny responsibility.
His senior counsel, Brian Fee, spent Day 8 of the trial cross-examining John Gilmore, a detective who questioned Mrs McKenna on suspicion of withholding information.
Trawling through the interview records, Mr Fee pointed out that Mrs McKenna had said whoever was to blame for the attack should be jailed.
"The phrase she uses a number of times is about them rotting in hell," Mr Fee said.
He told the detective that the interviews were carried out amid the belief that the call to Mrs McKenna's home at 3.41pm on August 15, 1998 came from a mobile which had travelled in the bomb car to Omagh.
Mr Gilmore agreed with him that the phone used to make contact had not been registered to McKenna.
Dealing with the witness descriptions of two men seen leaving the Vauxhall Cavalier packed with explosives in Omagh, Mr Fee said police made no reference to them throughout the time they held Mrs McKenna.
"There's a good reason for that. The reason is that Mr McKenna did not match those descriptions," he said.
The court was told of claims that Omagh was a joint operation with the Continuity IRA, which allegedly drove the bomb into Omagh.
Mr Fee told the detective: "There's nothing in the interviews you have done with Mrs McKenna that suggests Mr McKenna was a member of the Continuity IRA."
The trial was adjourned until Monday.
ONE of the men being sued for the Omagh bombing was a drunkard who rarely contacted his family when sober, his ex-wife told detectives.
Catherine Ann McKenna's withering assessment of her former husband Seamus was disclosed yesterday to the multi-million-pound civil action at the High Court.
She had been questioned by police who suspected that McKenna called her home less than an hour after the bombing in August 1998 which killed 29 people including a woman pregnant with twins.
That contact, it was alleged, came from a mobile phone used in the bomb car, the court heard.
Interview transcripts were read out in which Mrs McKenna claimed her ex-husband had not been to see her and their two sons since the previous Christmas Eve - when he brought a gift for one of the children.
At one point she told a detective who asked whether her ex-husband had any past connections: "When we were married he wasn't involved in anything. All he ever really was was a drunkard."
He would be drunk nine out of 10 times when he made contact and "talking a lot of bull", she said.
McKenna is being sued along with convicted Real IRA chief Michael McKevitt, Liam Campbell, Seamus Daly and Colm Murphy by the families of some Omagh victims. All five deny responsibility.
His senior counsel, Brian Fee, spent Day 8 of the trial cross-examining John Gilmore, a detective who questioned Mrs McKenna on suspicion of withholding information.
Trawling through the interview records, Mr Fee pointed out that Mrs McKenna had said whoever was to blame for the attack should be jailed.
"The phrase she uses a number of times is about them rotting in hell," Mr Fee said.
He told the detective that the interviews were carried out amid the belief that the call to Mrs McKenna's home at 3.41pm on August 15, 1998 came from a mobile which had travelled in the bomb car to Omagh.
Mr Gilmore agreed with him that the phone used to make contact had not been registered to McKenna.
Dealing with the witness descriptions of two men seen leaving the Vauxhall Cavalier packed with explosives in Omagh, Mr Fee said police made no reference to them throughout the time they held Mrs McKenna.
"There's a good reason for that. The reason is that Mr McKenna did not match those descriptions," he said.
The court was told of claims that Omagh was a joint operation with the Continuity IRA, which allegedly drove the bomb into Omagh.
Mr Fee told the detective: "There's nothing in the interviews you have done with Mrs McKenna that suggests Mr McKenna was a member of the Continuity IRA."
The trial was adjourned until Monday.
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/0922
Published Date: 18-Apr-08
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