LAWYER'S SICKNESS HALTS OMAGH TRIAL
Lawyers sickness halts omagh trial
BY ALAN ERWIN AND DERIC HENDERSON, PA
THE Omagh bomb trial was dramatically halted yesterday when the senior defence lawyer revealed he was unfit to proceed after leaving his sickbed.
Electrician Sean Hoey, 37, is on trial charged with murdering 29 people killed in the Real IRA bomb in August, 1998.
Defence QC Orlando Pownall told Mr Justice Weir at Belfast Crown Court: "I am unwell. I appear before you against medical advice."
He was undergoing blood tests at a London hospital, he said.
Details of the symptoms were not disclosed, but at one stage during the hearing he said that the expert treating him at St Anthony's Hospital told him he had never encountered anything like it in 37 years of medical practice.
Up to 40 relatives of those who died in the August 1998 Real IRA attack packed the court for what they expected to be the opening of one of the biggest criminal cases in British and Irish legal history. One woman burst into tears when she caught her first sight of Hoey, who faces a total of 58 terrorist-related charges.
Hoey, from Molly Road in the border village of Jonesborough, south Armagh, has denied the charges and sat in the dock flanked by two prison officers, wearing a corduroy jacket over a green and white striped shirt and denim jeans.
With the non-jury trial likely to run until Christmas, Mr Justice Weir expressed frustration at being informed only yesterday of the lawyer's indisposition.
Clearly unhappy at the late application for an adjournment, he said: "This is a most unfortunate turn events."
He added: "These are serious charges. This is a case in which Mr Hoey must have the services of senior counsel who is fit to conduct the trial.
"I do urge the defence to get to grips with the situation, review the position earlier rather than later and to come forward with some practical suggestion as to how we should proceed."
Mr Pownall, 54, said he went to hospital in Cornwall on August 26, but was informed matters should clear up by the following week.
Tests carried out proved negative but, despite that, his health had not improved as he hoped and he stayed in bed until yesterday when he travelled to Northern Ireland. He told the judge "Learning for the first time yesterday of my indisposition must have been infuriating.
"But I assure the court there was no attempt to keep you in the dark, or to railroad you into an adjournment.''
Mr Pownall said he had no objection to the Crown opening its case - the opening prosecution statement would take two hours - but requested the defence be given a delay until September 18.
"It's not as if we are asking for this case to be kicked into the long grass, to start in January, causing further upset.
"For the first time ever in my career I'm asking for an adjournment for reasons of my health."
He said he could not guarantee being 100 per cent fit to take charge of the defence on September 18.
The judge requested an urgent resolution to the uncertainty.
He said: "I will not allow this matter to remain unplanned-for until September 18.
"There must be some decisive decision taken on the matter and it must be done soon."
After Gordon Kerr QC, prosecuting, expressed no objection to the adjournment, Mr Justice Weir instructed the defence to keep him fully briefed.
BY ALAN ERWIN AND DERIC HENDERSON, PA
THE Omagh bomb trial was dramatically halted yesterday when the senior defence lawyer revealed he was unfit to proceed after leaving his sickbed.
Electrician Sean Hoey, 37, is on trial charged with murdering 29 people killed in the Real IRA bomb in August, 1998.
Defence QC Orlando Pownall told Mr Justice Weir at Belfast Crown Court: "I am unwell. I appear before you against medical advice."
He was undergoing blood tests at a London hospital, he said.
Details of the symptoms were not disclosed, but at one stage during the hearing he said that the expert treating him at St Anthony's Hospital told him he had never encountered anything like it in 37 years of medical practice.
Up to 40 relatives of those who died in the August 1998 Real IRA attack packed the court for what they expected to be the opening of one of the biggest criminal cases in British and Irish legal history. One woman burst into tears when she caught her first sight of Hoey, who faces a total of 58 terrorist-related charges.
Hoey, from Molly Road in the border village of Jonesborough, south Armagh, has denied the charges and sat in the dock flanked by two prison officers, wearing a corduroy jacket over a green and white striped shirt and denim jeans.
With the non-jury trial likely to run until Christmas, Mr Justice Weir expressed frustration at being informed only yesterday of the lawyer's indisposition.
Clearly unhappy at the late application for an adjournment, he said: "This is a most unfortunate turn events."
He added: "These are serious charges. This is a case in which Mr Hoey must have the services of senior counsel who is fit to conduct the trial.
"I do urge the defence to get to grips with the situation, review the position earlier rather than later and to come forward with some practical suggestion as to how we should proceed."
Mr Pownall, 54, said he went to hospital in Cornwall on August 26, but was informed matters should clear up by the following week.
Tests carried out proved negative but, despite that, his health had not improved as he hoped and he stayed in bed until yesterday when he travelled to Northern Ireland. He told the judge "Learning for the first time yesterday of my indisposition must have been infuriating.
"But I assure the court there was no attempt to keep you in the dark, or to railroad you into an adjournment.''
Mr Pownall said he had no objection to the Crown opening its case - the opening prosecution statement would take two hours - but requested the defence be given a delay until September 18.
"It's not as if we are asking for this case to be kicked into the long grass, to start in January, causing further upset.
"For the first time ever in my career I'm asking for an adjournment for reasons of my health."
He said he could not guarantee being 100 per cent fit to take charge of the defence on September 18.
The judge requested an urgent resolution to the uncertainty.
He said: "I will not allow this matter to remain unplanned-for until September 18.
"There must be some decisive decision taken on the matter and it must be done soon."
After Gordon Kerr QC, prosecuting, expressed no objection to the adjournment, Mr Justice Weir instructed the defence to keep him fully briefed.
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/658
Published Date: 07-Sep-06
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