TC/1689

Millionaire' quiz voice expert helped trapping of Omagh hoaxer

Anger among bomb bereaved as defendant 'walks free'
A FOUR YEAR jail term, suspended for three years, was imposed at Omagh Crown Court, sitting in Dungannon, on a man charged with making hoax bomb calls over an 11 month period.
Peter McKenna, with addresses at Inisclan Road, Mountfield, and Hunter Crescent, Omagh, admitted 12 charges of making false telephone bomb alerts between March 9, 2002 and February 9, 2003.
The Crown Court heard that detectives investigating the offences called in the same analyst who helped prove Major Charles Ingram had 'cheated' on the TV quiz show 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire?'
The sentence was passed down by Judge Jeffrey Foote, who told McKenna that his offences were so grave that he could have been jailed for seven years.
"Making hoax bomb calls anywhere in Northern Ireland is very serious, but it's particularly serious in Omagh, which was devastated as a result of the bomb. They have suffered great pain and continue to do so," the Judge said.
In evidence earlier in the month, the Crown Court was told that McKenna made his hoax calls from telephone boxes and by using his mobile phone. In one fake warning he telephoned from a Chinese restaurant in the town, the court heard.
Mr. Philip Mateer, QC, prosecuting, told the Crown Court that in his first call, McKenna claimed a bomb was due to go off outside the Courthouse and gave a 15 minute warning. This was the same location wrongly given at the time of the bombing in Omagh on August 15, 1998.
He said McKenna also claimed explosives had been left at the local police station, at two public houses and at two private addresses over the 11-months that he made the calls, which were placed at night.
Prosecuting counsel also said that in an alert in May 2002, McKenna told police that he could not give all the information because he would be shot by the IRA.
He also claimed to have information about the actual Omagh bomb, but demanded £1,000 in cash before he would tell detectives, the court heard.
It was also revealed that on two occasions police found McKenna standing at phone boxes just after calls had been placed, and on one occasion he had his t-shirt wrapped around the receiver. But McKenna denied making the calls.
Mr. Mateer said that eventually the accused was arrested.
Remorse
Mr. Ian Turkington, BL, defending, said McKenna had pleaded guilty to the charges at an early stage, and was filled with remorse.
He said bouts of heavy drinking which McKenna had carried out ever since he was badly assaulted in 2000 had played a pivotal role in his decision to make the hoaxes.
"These bear all the hallmarks of a nuisance factor. It is no coincidence that the calls were made almost entirely in the early hours of the morning," Mr. Turkington said.
He went on to say that the fact that McKenna had telephoned from his own mobile showed the calls had not been well planned.
"It is accepted it's an inconvenience and it's unsavoury, but there's no hallmarks in relation to sophistication," he said.
Imposing sentence, Judge Foote told McKenna: "You weren't, to put it mildly, hard to catch".
McKenna, who was accompanied by his father and partner, was driven from the court without making any comment.
Speaking after sentencing, Detective Constable John Caldwell, confirmed that during questioning the investigating officers brought in the voice
recognition expert, Dr. John French, who helped at the Saville Inquiry at the Guild Hall, Derry, and in the 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire?' debacle involving Major Ingram.
In a statement the detective commented: "Dr. French carried out voice analysis on recordings of the bomb calls and compared it to McKenna's voice. As a result he was able to distinguish that the caller was McKenna."
Outraged
Meanwhile, outraged relatives of some of those who died as a result of the Omagh bombing, have criticised the decision to allow McKenna to 'walk free'.
The chairman of Omagh Self-Help Group, Mr. Michael Gallagher, whose 21-year-old son died in the bombing, said that Judge Foote had got the judgment "badly wrong".
"This is typical of these judges who do not live in the real world. What kind of message is this sending out to people who evacuate a town centre if you don't come down hard on them," he asked.
Mr. Gallagher continued: "A bomb scare in Omagh means a lot more than anywhere else because people know the pain and complete panic it causes."