DECISION IS DUE ON CHARGES
Decision is due on charges
BY MICHAEL DONNELLY
THE judge in the Omagh bomb trial in Belfast will decide today if two of the 58 charges faced by electrician Sean Hoey should be dismissed.
Yesterday, the defence team for the 37-year-old south Armagh man claimed there had been "a unity of purpose, otherwise known as a conspiracy" by police to "bury" evidence in relation to explosives offences.
However, while the prosecution accepted there was "a potential for prejudice" against Hoey, they claimed "there is something sinister that is putting the matter too far", and that there was nothing to suggest "there was a deliberate conspiracy".
Mr Justice Weir said he wanted to "give a little thought" to the submissions on whether he should "stay proceedings" on charges surrounding a murder conspiracy and mortar bomb find at Altmore Forest, Dungannon, on April 15, 2001.
Earlier, defence QC Orlando Pownall claimed that given the state of the evidence "from three crucial witnesses" Hoey, from Molly Road, Jonesborough, "would not get a fair trial and it would not be fair to try him on those two counts".
Mr Pownall said the case relied on DNA evidence and that the "integrity of the exhibits is of paramount importance".
"Unless it can be said the integrity is beyond question, then the prosecution case is tainted," he added.
BY MICHAEL DONNELLY
THE judge in the Omagh bomb trial in Belfast will decide today if two of the 58 charges faced by electrician Sean Hoey should be dismissed.
Yesterday, the defence team for the 37-year-old south Armagh man claimed there had been "a unity of purpose, otherwise known as a conspiracy" by police to "bury" evidence in relation to explosives offences.
However, while the prosecution accepted there was "a potential for prejudice" against Hoey, they claimed "there is something sinister that is putting the matter too far", and that there was nothing to suggest "there was a deliberate conspiracy".
Mr Justice Weir said he wanted to "give a little thought" to the submissions on whether he should "stay proceedings" on charges surrounding a murder conspiracy and mortar bomb find at Altmore Forest, Dungannon, on April 15, 2001.
Earlier, defence QC Orlando Pownall claimed that given the state of the evidence "from three crucial witnesses" Hoey, from Molly Road, Jonesborough, "would not get a fair trial and it would not be fair to try him on those two counts".
Mr Pownall said the case relied on DNA evidence and that the "integrity of the exhibits is of paramount importance".
"Unless it can be said the integrity is beyond question, then the prosecution case is tainted," he added.
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/676
Published Date: 30-Nov-06
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