POLICE SEEK OMAGH BOMB SUPERGRASSES
Police seek Omagh bomb supergrasses
DETECTIVES reinvestigating the Omagh bombing are trying to identify potential supergrasses in a bid to mount a fresh criminal prosecution, police said yesterday.
PSNI officers are exploring whether individuals they believe had some part in the 1998 Real IRA attack will give evidence against other suspects, Assistant Chief Constable Drew Harris told a committee of MPs in Westminster. "New legislation has come into play since the original offence around what is known as Socap (Serious Organised Crime and Police Act of 2005) where people can be brought in and admit their part in a crime and in turn provide evidence," he said.
"So we want to explore all of those possibilities before we come to our final determination around the criminal investigation [of Omagh]."
Mr Harris said eight people were identified by detectives as being suspects in the days after the attack and that was still the police's opinion eleven years on.
He told the Northern Ireland Affairs committee that the eight included the four men found liable for the bombing in a landmark civil case taken by victims' families last month.
Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde, who also briefed the committee yesterday, said the PSNI had already secured a murder conviction as a result of the provisions in Socap that gave weight to evidence provided by another suspect.
He said loyalist killer Steven Brown -also known as Steven Revels - who murdered teenage friends Andrew Robb (19) and David McIlwaine (18) in Tandragee, Co Armagh, nine years ago, would not have been found guilty if were not for evidence provided by Mark Burcombe - a suspect who gave evidence on behalf of the prosecution.
DETECTIVES reinvestigating the Omagh bombing are trying to identify potential supergrasses in a bid to mount a fresh criminal prosecution, police said yesterday.
PSNI officers are exploring whether individuals they believe had some part in the 1998 Real IRA attack will give evidence against other suspects, Assistant Chief Constable Drew Harris told a committee of MPs in Westminster. "New legislation has come into play since the original offence around what is known as Socap (Serious Organised Crime and Police Act of 2005) where people can be brought in and admit their part in a crime and in turn provide evidence," he said.
"So we want to explore all of those possibilities before we come to our final determination around the criminal investigation [of Omagh]."
Mr Harris said eight people were identified by detectives as being suspects in the days after the attack and that was still the police's opinion eleven years on.
He told the Northern Ireland Affairs committee that the eight included the four men found liable for the bombing in a landmark civil case taken by victims' families last month.
Chief Constable Sir Hugh Orde, who also briefed the committee yesterday, said the PSNI had already secured a murder conviction as a result of the provisions in Socap that gave weight to evidence provided by another suspect.
He said loyalist killer Steven Brown -also known as Steven Revels - who murdered teenage friends Andrew Robb (19) and David McIlwaine (18) in Tandragee, Co Armagh, nine years ago, would not have been found guilty if were not for evidence provided by Mark Burcombe - a suspect who gave evidence on behalf of the prosecution.
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/1009
Published Date: 16-Jul-09
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