OMAGH CIVIL CASE: MOBILE PHONE RECORDS EXCEPTED
Omagh civil case: mobile phone records accepted
BY SARAH STACK
MOBILE phone records involving a convicted Real IRA member being sued by the families of the Omagh bomb victims were yesterday accepted as evidence despite objections his privacy would be breached.
The civil action against five men accused of carrying out the Real IRA blast in August 1998 heard that although calls to and from the phone would be examined, their contents could not be revealed.
The bombing, the worst atrocity during the Troubles, killed 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins.
Details of a mobile phone which the Omagh families claim Seamus Daly borrowed from Colm Murphy on the day of the attack were highlighted in the Vodafone papers.
The documents also outlined calls from the borrowed mobile to Denis O'Connor, of Kilkenny, on the day of the bombing and some months earlier.
District Court Judge Conal Gibbons, sitting in Dublin, said there was no question of evidence being introduced relating to a private discussion in which Daly may
have been participating.
"The evidence would appear to address issues of fact as to whether a specific phone was used or not in particular circumstances alleged by the plaintiffs," he said.
Lawyers for Daly argued that producing the documents would advance the plaintiff's case and breach his client's privacy rights.
Judge Gibbons, who was hearing evidence in the presence of Mr Justice Morgan who has presided over the case in Belfast Crown Court, also ruled that hearsay evidence should be excluded.
The action taken by six affected families is the first time the victims of terrorism have confronted the alleged perpetrators and the first time evidence from a Northern Ireland case has been heard in the Republic.
Alleged Real IRA leader Michael McKevitt; Liam Campbell, said to be his number two; Seamus McKenna, Murphy and Daly all deny any involvement.
The case will return to Dublin next month when Garda Assistant Commissioner Dermot Jennings is expected to give evidence relating to FBI informer David Rupert, who infiltrated the Real IRA.
BY SARAH STACK
MOBILE phone records involving a convicted Real IRA member being sued by the families of the Omagh bomb victims were yesterday accepted as evidence despite objections his privacy would be breached.
The civil action against five men accused of carrying out the Real IRA blast in August 1998 heard that although calls to and from the phone would be examined, their contents could not be revealed.
The bombing, the worst atrocity during the Troubles, killed 29 people, including a woman pregnant with twins.
Details of a mobile phone which the Omagh families claim Seamus Daly borrowed from Colm Murphy on the day of the attack were highlighted in the Vodafone papers.
The documents also outlined calls from the borrowed mobile to Denis O'Connor, of Kilkenny, on the day of the bombing and some months earlier.
District Court Judge Conal Gibbons, sitting in Dublin, said there was no question of evidence being introduced relating to a private discussion in which Daly may
have been participating.
"The evidence would appear to address issues of fact as to whether a specific phone was used or not in particular circumstances alleged by the plaintiffs," he said.
Lawyers for Daly argued that producing the documents would advance the plaintiff's case and breach his client's privacy rights.
Judge Gibbons, who was hearing evidence in the presence of Mr Justice Morgan who has presided over the case in Belfast Crown Court, also ruled that hearsay evidence should be excluded.
The action taken by six affected families is the first time the victims of terrorism have confronted the alleged perpetrators and the first time evidence from a Northern Ireland case has been heard in the Republic.
Alleged Real IRA leader Michael McKevitt; Liam Campbell, said to be his number two; Seamus McKenna, Murphy and Daly all deny any involvement.
The case will return to Dublin next month when Garda Assistant Commissioner Dermot Jennings is expected to give evidence relating to FBI informer David Rupert, who infiltrated the Real IRA.
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/784
Published Date: 01-Oct-08
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