OMAGH DEATH CHARGES
OMAGH 'DEATH CHARGES'
By JILLY BEATTIE
Suspect may be accused of 31 killings
AN electrician may be charged with killing the 31 victims of the Omagh bomb, Belfast High Court heard yesterday.
The disclosure was made by a Crown lawyer opposing a bail application by Sean Gerard Hoey.
Hoey, 34, from Jonesborough. South Armagh, has been in custody since last September on 15 charges involving explosives and Real IRA membership.
His bail was denied by Lord Justice Nicholson, who said: "I'm satisfied that a person who is a prima facie bomb-maker is liable to be used as a bomb-maker in the continuation of those activities. In the circumstances bail is refused."
One of the charges against Hoey relates to the possession of a timer power unit between March 1997 and August 16, 1998 - just 24 hours after the Omagh bombing.
A file due to be submitted to the DPP in the next two months will include a request to charge him with the murder of 29 people in Omagh and destruction of two unborn babies. If successful, the move would make him the first person to be charged with the atrocity.
Gordon Kerr, QC, told the court about 15 different bomb attacks, including explosions in Omagh, Co Tyrone, Lisburn, Co Antrim, and Armagh.
And he said that the devices used in each of the explosions came from a batch bought from a French firm by a fictitious company named Electra Technics, Dundalk.
He said a forensic expert believed that all the bombs had been constructed by one person.
Mr Kerr said Hoey's DNA was found on the power unit of the car bomb in Lisburn, Co Antrim, on the tape which led to the detonator, and tape going to the booster charge.
He added: "It's clear that a person with that connection to that part of the device is the bomb-maker." Mr Kerr said Hoey phoned a Seamus Daly at 3.26pm on August 15, 1998, 22 minutes before the 500lb device used in Omagh was detonated.
He added that evidence would also show that Daly, who pleaded guilty in Dublin last week to membership of the RIRA, was travelling from the direction of Omagh at the time.
Defence counsel Philip Magee said it was probably the most complicated forensic case ever mounted in Northern Ireland.
He added Hoey had been arrested soon after the Omagh bombing and released.
He added: "Mr Hoey denies preparing, making, procuring or anything whatsoever to do with the Omagh bomb, and there is no suggestion of DNA from him on the Omagh device."
But Lord Justice Nicholson, refusing bail, said he was satisfied there was a strong prima facie case against Hoey.
He added: "I am satisfied there is a real risk he would not turn up for his trial."
By JILLY BEATTIE
Suspect may be accused of 31 killings
AN electrician may be charged with killing the 31 victims of the Omagh bomb, Belfast High Court heard yesterday.
The disclosure was made by a Crown lawyer opposing a bail application by Sean Gerard Hoey.
Hoey, 34, from Jonesborough. South Armagh, has been in custody since last September on 15 charges involving explosives and Real IRA membership.
His bail was denied by Lord Justice Nicholson, who said: "I'm satisfied that a person who is a prima facie bomb-maker is liable to be used as a bomb-maker in the continuation of those activities. In the circumstances bail is refused."
One of the charges against Hoey relates to the possession of a timer power unit between March 1997 and August 16, 1998 - just 24 hours after the Omagh bombing.
A file due to be submitted to the DPP in the next two months will include a request to charge him with the murder of 29 people in Omagh and destruction of two unborn babies. If successful, the move would make him the first person to be charged with the atrocity.
Gordon Kerr, QC, told the court about 15 different bomb attacks, including explosions in Omagh, Co Tyrone, Lisburn, Co Antrim, and Armagh.
And he said that the devices used in each of the explosions came from a batch bought from a French firm by a fictitious company named Electra Technics, Dundalk.
He said a forensic expert believed that all the bombs had been constructed by one person.
Mr Kerr said Hoey's DNA was found on the power unit of the car bomb in Lisburn, Co Antrim, on the tape which led to the detonator, and tape going to the booster charge.
He added: "It's clear that a person with that connection to that part of the device is the bomb-maker." Mr Kerr said Hoey phoned a Seamus Daly at 3.26pm on August 15, 1998, 22 minutes before the 500lb device used in Omagh was detonated.
He added that evidence would also show that Daly, who pleaded guilty in Dublin last week to membership of the RIRA, was travelling from the direction of Omagh at the time.
Defence counsel Philip Magee said it was probably the most complicated forensic case ever mounted in Northern Ireland.
He added Hoey had been arrested soon after the Omagh bombing and released.
He added: "Mr Hoey denies preparing, making, procuring or anything whatsoever to do with the Omagh bomb, and there is no suggestion of DNA from him on the Omagh device."
But Lord Justice Nicholson, refusing bail, said he was satisfied there was a strong prima facie case against Hoey.
He added: "I am satisfied there is a real risk he would not turn up for his trial."
Further Information
Publisher: THE MIRROR
Ref: TM/207
Published Date: 02-Apr-04
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