COURT RULING: HOEY 'STILL HAS CASE TO ANSWER'
Court ruling: Hoey 'still has case to answer'
BY MICHAEL McHUGH
THE man accused of murdering 29 people in the Omagh bomb atrocity yesterday failed in his bid to have the charges thrown out.
Sean Hoey, 37, is being tried before Belfast Crown Court for the 1998 Real IRA explosion.
Two counts - causing an explosion and conspiracy to murder - were dropped leaving Hoey to face 56 charges.
Mr Justice Weir said the defence had to prove "the evidence was so discredited or so intrinsically weak" it could not support a proper conviction.
"I have not concluded that the state of the evidence in relation to any of those remaining counts does meet that test, accordingly I refuse the application."
All charges against Hoey, an electrician, from Molly Road, Jonesborough, involve alleged Real IRA attacks.
Chief prosecutor Gordon Kerr accepted on Tuesday that both dismissed counts should be taken from the charge sheet. The conspiracy count related to a device discovered on the Blackwatertown Road, Armagh, on July 9, 1998.
The explosive charge involved a car bomb in Banbridge, which exploded on August 1, 1998, causing extensive damage.
Police discovered the Blackwatertown Road device in a trailer. The 1,4001b explosive was found inside the trailer with two booster tubes and a timer power unit in a lunchbox.
Prosecutors had argued that an earlier incident nearby, when occupants of a house fled two masked men, was designed to lure security force members into the area and kill them.
The Banbridge car bomb exploded, causing minor injuries and damage to property, as police evacuated the area.
The attack happened two weeks before the Omagh bomb.
It was the largest single atrocity in the history of the Troubles.
Hoey, who has been in custody since September 2003, is the first person to be charged over the slaughter.
The trial is adjourned until the New Year, when the defence team will begin their case.
BY MICHAEL McHUGH
THE man accused of murdering 29 people in the Omagh bomb atrocity yesterday failed in his bid to have the charges thrown out.
Sean Hoey, 37, is being tried before Belfast Crown Court for the 1998 Real IRA explosion.
Two counts - causing an explosion and conspiracy to murder - were dropped leaving Hoey to face 56 charges.
Mr Justice Weir said the defence had to prove "the evidence was so discredited or so intrinsically weak" it could not support a proper conviction.
"I have not concluded that the state of the evidence in relation to any of those remaining counts does meet that test, accordingly I refuse the application."
All charges against Hoey, an electrician, from Molly Road, Jonesborough, involve alleged Real IRA attacks.
Chief prosecutor Gordon Kerr accepted on Tuesday that both dismissed counts should be taken from the charge sheet. The conspiracy count related to a device discovered on the Blackwatertown Road, Armagh, on July 9, 1998.
The explosive charge involved a car bomb in Banbridge, which exploded on August 1, 1998, causing extensive damage.
Police discovered the Blackwatertown Road device in a trailer. The 1,4001b explosive was found inside the trailer with two booster tubes and a timer power unit in a lunchbox.
Prosecutors had argued that an earlier incident nearby, when occupants of a house fled two masked men, was designed to lure security force members into the area and kill them.
The Banbridge car bomb exploded, causing minor injuries and damage to property, as police evacuated the area.
The attack happened two weeks before the Omagh bomb.
It was the largest single atrocity in the history of the Troubles.
Hoey, who has been in custody since September 2003, is the first person to be charged over the slaughter.
The trial is adjourned until the New Year, when the defence team will begin their case.
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/682
Published Date: 22-Dec-06
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