EVIDENCE NOT DESTROYED
Evidence not destroyed
BY MICHAEL McHUGH
VITAL evidence linked to a dissident republican bombing campaign was found by a forensic scientist five years after it had been earmarked for destruction, a court heard yesterday.
Dennis McAuley recovered a detonator used in an attempted car bombing in Armagh in May 1998 after it had been labelled for destruction.
The admission came on the 18th day of the trial of Sean Hoey, 37, before Belfast Crown Court.
Hoey, from Molly Road, Jonesborough, County Armagh, denies 58 terrorism offences linked to the Real IRA.
Trial judge Mr Justice Weir commented: "I am just interested to know how something that was sent for destruction could be still around the laboratory five years later."
The device was uncovered in November 2003. Mr McAuley found the detonator in an ammunition box with a quantity of red tape.
Mr Justice Weir added: "It's the sort of housekeeping that doesn't get done because you are busy, is that the reality of it?"
Another scientific witness, Gordon McMillen said: "That is a possibility but detonators have been destroyed in the past."
The device was recovered by army technical officers after the car bomb was made safe outside Armagh police station. It was part of a series of bombings which preceded the explosion at Omagh in August 1998 which killed 29 people.
The judge, who is sitting without a jury because of the risk of intimidation, also heard that the Omagh explosion had been triggered using an item the size of a lunchbox.
Mr McAuley said: "From the damage to the vehicle and surroundings a charge of 150kg to 200kg of improvised explosive had functioned in the boot of the Vauxhall Cavalier.
"The timer power unit had probably been located in the passenger compartment of the vehicle with connecting wires."
The timer unit is constructed using a battery and sends a charge to the detonator which leads to the main explosion.
Mr McAuley added a plastic lunchbox with its lid had been used to contain the TPU.
A crater was left in the middle of Omagh's Market Street and bodies were strewn across the road. The bomb exploded on a busy shopping day in the town.
Forensic experts gathered material from the scene including batteries used in the construction of the bomb as well as tonnes of debris.
The bomb caused the highest death toll from any single incident during the Northern Ireland conflict.
Hoey's trial is expected to last for several months.
BY MICHAEL McHUGH
VITAL evidence linked to a dissident republican bombing campaign was found by a forensic scientist five years after it had been earmarked for destruction, a court heard yesterday.
Dennis McAuley recovered a detonator used in an attempted car bombing in Armagh in May 1998 after it had been labelled for destruction.
The admission came on the 18th day of the trial of Sean Hoey, 37, before Belfast Crown Court.
Hoey, from Molly Road, Jonesborough, County Armagh, denies 58 terrorism offences linked to the Real IRA.
Trial judge Mr Justice Weir commented: "I am just interested to know how something that was sent for destruction could be still around the laboratory five years later."
The device was uncovered in November 2003. Mr McAuley found the detonator in an ammunition box with a quantity of red tape.
Mr Justice Weir added: "It's the sort of housekeeping that doesn't get done because you are busy, is that the reality of it?"
Another scientific witness, Gordon McMillen said: "That is a possibility but detonators have been destroyed in the past."
The device was recovered by army technical officers after the car bomb was made safe outside Armagh police station. It was part of a series of bombings which preceded the explosion at Omagh in August 1998 which killed 29 people.
The judge, who is sitting without a jury because of the risk of intimidation, also heard that the Omagh explosion had been triggered using an item the size of a lunchbox.
Mr McAuley said: "From the damage to the vehicle and surroundings a charge of 150kg to 200kg of improvised explosive had functioned in the boot of the Vauxhall Cavalier.
"The timer power unit had probably been located in the passenger compartment of the vehicle with connecting wires."
The timer unit is constructed using a battery and sends a charge to the detonator which leads to the main explosion.
Mr McAuley added a plastic lunchbox with its lid had been used to contain the TPU.
A crater was left in the middle of Omagh's Market Street and bodies were strewn across the road. The bomb exploded on a busy shopping day in the town.
Forensic experts gathered material from the scene including batteries used in the construction of the bomb as well as tonnes of debris.
The bomb caused the highest death toll from any single incident during the Northern Ireland conflict.
Hoey's trial is expected to last for several months.
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/668
Published Date: 19-Oct-06
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