HOEY IN COURT ON DRINK-DRIVE CHARGE
Hoey in court on drink-drive charge
BY DAVID YOUNG
newsdesk@newsletter.co.uk
THE man cleared of the Omagh bomb massacre appeared in court yesterday charged with drink-driving.
Sean Hoey, 39, had alcohol in excess of the legal limit in his system when he was stopped by police in his home village of Jonesborough, south Armagh, earlier this month, Newry Magistrates Court heard.
Standing in the dock dressed in a grey green jacket, a black jumper and blue jeans, he did not speak during his brief appearance, nodding only to acknowledge he understood the charge against him.
An officer with the PSNI told Magistrate Paul Copeland that he could connect Hoey, from Molly Road, Jonesborough, with the offence on the nearby Finegans Road on July 5.
Mr Copeland ordered the electrician, who was fuller in face than during the marathon Omagh trial of two years ago, to appear before him again next month for a further hearing.
In December 2007, Hoey was acquitted in Belfast Crown Court of murdering the 29 people who died in the August 1998 Real IRA outrage.
He was also cleared of 26 other charges linked to a series of dissident republican attacks in the months around Omagh.
No one has ever been successfully criminally prosecuted for the atrocity, which came only four months after the signing of Northern Ireland's historic Good Friday Agreement peace settlement.
However, last month four men were found liable for the bombing in a landmark civil case taken by the families and ordered to pay millions in compensation.
Hoey was not among the respondents named in the families' action, which was heard in Belfast High Court.
In the wake of the civil case and a Police Ombudsman's investigation that cleared two scene of crime officers accused of lying during the criminal trial, the PSNI has decided to review all of its evidence relating to Omagh to see if there are grounds for any new criminal proceedings.
After yesterday's hearing in Newry, Hoey left court alone.
BY DAVID YOUNG
newsdesk@newsletter.co.uk
THE man cleared of the Omagh bomb massacre appeared in court yesterday charged with drink-driving.
Sean Hoey, 39, had alcohol in excess of the legal limit in his system when he was stopped by police in his home village of Jonesborough, south Armagh, earlier this month, Newry Magistrates Court heard.
Standing in the dock dressed in a grey green jacket, a black jumper and blue jeans, he did not speak during his brief appearance, nodding only to acknowledge he understood the charge against him.
An officer with the PSNI told Magistrate Paul Copeland that he could connect Hoey, from Molly Road, Jonesborough, with the offence on the nearby Finegans Road on July 5.
Mr Copeland ordered the electrician, who was fuller in face than during the marathon Omagh trial of two years ago, to appear before him again next month for a further hearing.
In December 2007, Hoey was acquitted in Belfast Crown Court of murdering the 29 people who died in the August 1998 Real IRA outrage.
He was also cleared of 26 other charges linked to a series of dissident republican attacks in the months around Omagh.
No one has ever been successfully criminally prosecuted for the atrocity, which came only four months after the signing of Northern Ireland's historic Good Friday Agreement peace settlement.
However, last month four men were found liable for the bombing in a landmark civil case taken by the families and ordered to pay millions in compensation.
Hoey was not among the respondents named in the families' action, which was heard in Belfast High Court.
In the wake of the civil case and a Police Ombudsman's investigation that cleared two scene of crime officers accused of lying during the criminal trial, the PSNI has decided to review all of its evidence relating to Omagh to see if there are grounds for any new criminal proceedings.
After yesterday's hearing in Newry, Hoey left court alone.
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/803
Published Date: 30-Jul-09
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