OMAGH SUSPECT WANTS DAMAGES FOR INTERROGATION
Omagh suspect wants damages for interrogation
Victims' families sickened by �15,000 claim
AN Omagh bomb atrocity suspect is seeking up to �15,000 in compensation, claiming he was left traumatised by police questioning, it was revealed last night.
Stunned relatives of the dead have protested to the Government, urging ministers to resist any payout.
Victor Barker, a lawyer whose 12-year-old son James was killed at Omagh, called for a review of compensation for victims' families.
"I don't think the trauma he went through comes anywhere near that experienced by victims and their families," he said.
Mr Barker was horrified to learn the suspect was seeking double what the families have been paid in Government compensation.
"It is down to the law to decide, but there is a real need for the Government to review the compensation system for families," he said.
The suspect, from south Armagh, was among dozens of republicans interviewed by detectives investigating the August 1998 Real IRA outrage which killed 29 people.
It is understood he was questioned by detectives months after the bombing.
At one stage during the interrogation harrowing photographs of the carnage were allegedly produced and shown to the man.
He claimed police offered him no counselling for any trauma brought on by exposure to the images.
The man who lodged the claim, a former prisoner, has not been charged in connection with Omagh. But it is understood he is a former Provisional IRA member.
Other relatives whose children died in the attack were horrified to learn the suspect is seeking double what they have been paid in Government compensation.
Michael Gallagher, whose son Aidan died in the blast, said: "For the Omagh families this is absolutely disgusting.
"The Government is prepared to give parents �7,000 and yet someone who looked at a photo can then walk away and claim �15,000."
Victims' families sickened by �15,000 claim
AN Omagh bomb atrocity suspect is seeking up to �15,000 in compensation, claiming he was left traumatised by police questioning, it was revealed last night.
Stunned relatives of the dead have protested to the Government, urging ministers to resist any payout.
Victor Barker, a lawyer whose 12-year-old son James was killed at Omagh, called for a review of compensation for victims' families.
"I don't think the trauma he went through comes anywhere near that experienced by victims and their families," he said.
Mr Barker was horrified to learn the suspect was seeking double what the families have been paid in Government compensation.
"It is down to the law to decide, but there is a real need for the Government to review the compensation system for families," he said.
The suspect, from south Armagh, was among dozens of republicans interviewed by detectives investigating the August 1998 Real IRA outrage which killed 29 people.
It is understood he was questioned by detectives months after the bombing.
At one stage during the interrogation harrowing photographs of the carnage were allegedly produced and shown to the man.
He claimed police offered him no counselling for any trauma brought on by exposure to the images.
The man who lodged the claim, a former prisoner, has not been charged in connection with Omagh. But it is understood he is a former Provisional IRA member.
Other relatives whose children died in the attack were horrified to learn the suspect is seeking double what they have been paid in Government compensation.
Michael Gallagher, whose son Aidan died in the blast, said: "For the Omagh families this is absolutely disgusting.
"The Government is prepared to give parents �7,000 and yet someone who looked at a photo can then walk away and claim �15,000."
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/493
Published Date: 15-Oct-03
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