CASE WILL EXAMINE PHONE RECORDS
Case will examine phone records
LORD Brennan revealed that a mainstay of the case against the accused would focus on detailed records of phone calls made leading up to and in the wake of the attack.
"Evidence of this volume, detail and complexity has not previously been presented in these courts," he said, noting that such information was not employed in the Crown case against Hoey.
Leading the court through call records and information from mobile phone masts on both sides of the border, Lord Brennan attempted to track Daly and McKenna's journey from Dundalk to Omagh on the day of the attack.
He claimed the former was in a scouting car and the latter in the Vauxhall containing the bomb.
Murphy had supplied both of them with phones, he claimed.
Lord Brennan said the evidence also identified Campbell as the operational director of the bombing mission.
"Evidence which at first looks complex such as this ends up giving a simple, plain picture," he said.
"Which I can sum up in these words: it all fits together."
He pointed out that at his original trial Murphy's legal team had not challenged the reliability of the phone-tracking evidence.
"If there was a case to advance against this evidence on the technical side, that was the ideal time to advance it," he said.
Although he conceded the phone evidence was mainly circumstantial, as there was no way of proving for sure who physically made the call or what words were spoken, he suggested it still made for a compelling case and that it indicated only one explanation.
"Sometimes circumstantial evidence is the most compelling," he told the court.
Lord Brennan said he would also seek to prove a link between the Omagh attack and other Real IRA bombings.
LORD Brennan revealed that a mainstay of the case against the accused would focus on detailed records of phone calls made leading up to and in the wake of the attack.
"Evidence of this volume, detail and complexity has not previously been presented in these courts," he said, noting that such information was not employed in the Crown case against Hoey.
Leading the court through call records and information from mobile phone masts on both sides of the border, Lord Brennan attempted to track Daly and McKenna's journey from Dundalk to Omagh on the day of the attack.
He claimed the former was in a scouting car and the latter in the Vauxhall containing the bomb.
Murphy had supplied both of them with phones, he claimed.
Lord Brennan said the evidence also identified Campbell as the operational director of the bombing mission.
"Evidence which at first looks complex such as this ends up giving a simple, plain picture," he said.
"Which I can sum up in these words: it all fits together."
He pointed out that at his original trial Murphy's legal team had not challenged the reliability of the phone-tracking evidence.
"If there was a case to advance against this evidence on the technical side, that was the ideal time to advance it," he said.
Although he conceded the phone evidence was mainly circumstantial, as there was no way of proving for sure who physically made the call or what words were spoken, he suggested it still made for a compelling case and that it indicated only one explanation.
"Sometimes circumstantial evidence is the most compelling," he told the court.
Lord Brennan said he would also seek to prove a link between the Omagh attack and other Real IRA bombings.
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/741
Published Date: 08-Apr-08
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