OMAGH BOMB TRIAL FBI AGENT WAS A PATHOLOGICAL LIAR COURT TOLD
Omagh bomb trial FBI spy was a 'pathological liar' court told
AN FBI spy who secured the conviction of Real IRA leader Michael McKevitt was "a pathological liar, confidence trickster and serial perjurer", the Court of Appeal heard yesterday.
Senior judges were also told a finding that McKevitt and three other dissident republicans were liable for the Omagh bomb atrocity was "tainted".
The four men are appealing after being successfully sued by the families of some of the victims of the August 1998 bomb attack which killed 29 people including a woman pregnant with twins.
No-one has ever been convicted in a criminal court of causing the Omagh murders.
But in a landmark ruling last June 12 relatives who brought the civil action were awarded combined damages of more than SI.6 million.
McKevitt, Liam Campbell, Colm Murphy and Seamus Daly were held liable for the bombing, which also injured hundreds of people.
Mr Justice Morgan, now the lord chief justice, Sir Declan Morgan, also ruled that members of the Real IRA's army council bore responsibility for directing the attack as part of a terror campaign.
His verdict is now being challenged, with the victims' families cross-appealing the level of compensation awarded.
Opening a two-week hearing in Belfast in front of Lord Justices Higgins, Girvan and Coghlin, McKevitt's barrister attacked the credibility of David Rupert, the undercover agent whose testimony was key to securing his client's conviction for directing terrorism.
Rupert, an American trucking company boss who was first recruited by the FBI to infiltrate dissident republican ranks, went into the witness box to testify against McKevitt at his criminal trial in Dublin in 2003.
However, he never gave evidence at the Omagh civil action.
Michael O'Higgins SC, for McKevitt, told the Court of Appeal: "The judge in this case was denied the opportunity of hearing Mr Rupert.
"Mr McKevitt was denied the opportunity of ever cross-examining him. We say the failure to take account of those points render the ultimate decision reached flawed.
"Over a lifetime there was very significant, objective evidence to show that David Rupert was a pathological liar, a confidence trickster, and a man who, it was very strongly submitted based on forensic consideration, had engaged in serial perjury in the course of giving his evidence in the Dublin trial."
Later Mr O'Higgins contrasted the impact on both his client and Rupert of failing to give evidence at the civil action.
He claimed that the agent's non-appearance was treated as lacking significance, while for McKevitt the consequences were "catastrophic".
As the appeal began Stanley Mc-Comb, who lost his wife Ann in the atrocity, was in court to represent the victims' families.
Other relatives could not be with him because they were attending the funeral of the father of Geraldine Breslin, who was killed at Omagh.
Mr McComb said: "It's been a long 12 years for us, of listening to what's been said and what's been done.
"The names of people crop up in it that you don't want to hear because it make you angry.
"They are portrayed as being the good guys by their legal teams."
No-one has ever been convicted in a criminal court in connection with the Omagh bombing.
The only man to face criminal charges, Sean Hoey from Jonesborough in south Armagh, was acquitted in 2007.
The families brought the multi-million-pound civil action in an attempt to bring fresh information about the atrocity to light.
None of the men sued has the capacity to pay out any kind of large-scale payment.
AN FBI spy who secured the conviction of Real IRA leader Michael McKevitt was "a pathological liar, confidence trickster and serial perjurer", the Court of Appeal heard yesterday.
Senior judges were also told a finding that McKevitt and three other dissident republicans were liable for the Omagh bomb atrocity was "tainted".
The four men are appealing after being successfully sued by the families of some of the victims of the August 1998 bomb attack which killed 29 people including a woman pregnant with twins.
No-one has ever been convicted in a criminal court of causing the Omagh murders.
But in a landmark ruling last June 12 relatives who brought the civil action were awarded combined damages of more than SI.6 million.
McKevitt, Liam Campbell, Colm Murphy and Seamus Daly were held liable for the bombing, which also injured hundreds of people.
Mr Justice Morgan, now the lord chief justice, Sir Declan Morgan, also ruled that members of the Real IRA's army council bore responsibility for directing the attack as part of a terror campaign.
His verdict is now being challenged, with the victims' families cross-appealing the level of compensation awarded.
Opening a two-week hearing in Belfast in front of Lord Justices Higgins, Girvan and Coghlin, McKevitt's barrister attacked the credibility of David Rupert, the undercover agent whose testimony was key to securing his client's conviction for directing terrorism.
Rupert, an American trucking company boss who was first recruited by the FBI to infiltrate dissident republican ranks, went into the witness box to testify against McKevitt at his criminal trial in Dublin in 2003.
However, he never gave evidence at the Omagh civil action.
Michael O'Higgins SC, for McKevitt, told the Court of Appeal: "The judge in this case was denied the opportunity of hearing Mr Rupert.
"Mr McKevitt was denied the opportunity of ever cross-examining him. We say the failure to take account of those points render the ultimate decision reached flawed.
"Over a lifetime there was very significant, objective evidence to show that David Rupert was a pathological liar, a confidence trickster, and a man who, it was very strongly submitted based on forensic consideration, had engaged in serial perjury in the course of giving his evidence in the Dublin trial."
Later Mr O'Higgins contrasted the impact on both his client and Rupert of failing to give evidence at the civil action.
He claimed that the agent's non-appearance was treated as lacking significance, while for McKevitt the consequences were "catastrophic".
As the appeal began Stanley Mc-Comb, who lost his wife Ann in the atrocity, was in court to represent the victims' families.
Other relatives could not be with him because they were attending the funeral of the father of Geraldine Breslin, who was killed at Omagh.
Mr McComb said: "It's been a long 12 years for us, of listening to what's been said and what's been done.
"The names of people crop up in it that you don't want to hear because it make you angry.
"They are portrayed as being the good guys by their legal teams."
No-one has ever been convicted in a criminal court in connection with the Omagh bombing.
The only man to face criminal charges, Sean Hoey from Jonesborough in south Armagh, was acquitted in 2007.
The families brought the multi-million-pound civil action in an attempt to bring fresh information about the atrocity to light.
None of the men sued has the capacity to pay out any kind of large-scale payment.
Further Information
Publisher: THE IRISH NEWS
Ref: IN/1042
Published Date: 11-Jan-11
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