VICTIMS' FAMILIES SEEK A FULL CROSS-BORDER INQUIRY
Victims' families seek a full cross-border inquiry
THE father of one of the Omagh bomb victims has said the trial judge should not be seen as the villain of the case. Michael Gallagher, whose son Aidan was among the 29 killed and who sat throughout most of the 56-day hearing, said that it had been shown in court that the police made mistakes.
Mr Justice Weir highlighted this in his summation and passed on his concerns to the Police Ombudsman.
Mr Gallagher said: "I don't see the villain in this case as the judge. Much of the forensic evidence was defective and this report is an accumulation of a number of things that went wrong.
"We hope it will improve policing standards and make future murder inquiries more effective. But the families see this as just another report. There have been so many and you have to look at the whole picture, which is why we will not be satisfied until we get a full cross-border judicial investigation."
Meanwhile, the Lord Chief Justice Sir Brian Kerr defended Mr Justice Weir.
He said in a statement that the Omagh judge had "considered that the nature of the evidence given by the two individuals (officers Philip Marshall and Fiona Cooper) he identified in the judgment raised the possibility of the involvement of others".
Sir Brian said the trial judge "did not speculate that others were involved, much less who such others might be".
"He registered his concern that others may have been involved and he has left it to other agencies to investigate and determine whether that is the case," he said.
THE father of one of the Omagh bomb victims has said the trial judge should not be seen as the villain of the case. Michael Gallagher, whose son Aidan was among the 29 killed and who sat throughout most of the 56-day hearing, said that it had been shown in court that the police made mistakes.
Mr Justice Weir highlighted this in his summation and passed on his concerns to the Police Ombudsman.
Mr Gallagher said: "I don't see the villain in this case as the judge. Much of the forensic evidence was defective and this report is an accumulation of a number of things that went wrong.
"We hope it will improve policing standards and make future murder inquiries more effective. But the families see this as just another report. There have been so many and you have to look at the whole picture, which is why we will not be satisfied until we get a full cross-border judicial investigation."
Meanwhile, the Lord Chief Justice Sir Brian Kerr defended Mr Justice Weir.
He said in a statement that the Omagh judge had "considered that the nature of the evidence given by the two individuals (officers Philip Marshall and Fiona Cooper) he identified in the judgment raised the possibility of the involvement of others".
Sir Brian said the trial judge "did not speculate that others were involved, much less who such others might be".
"He registered his concern that others may have been involved and he has left it to other agencies to investigate and determine whether that is the case," he said.
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/766
Published Date: 10-Jul-08
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