SEAN HOEY HAS CASE TO ANSWER SAYS RM
Sean Hoey has case to answer says RM
FOLLOWING a series of failed legal moves by his defence team to have the case against him thrown out of court, Sean Hoey, a 36 year-old man from Jonesborough, South Armagh, will stand trial for the murder of 29 people in the Omagh bombing.
Belfast Magistrate Desmond Perry said on Friday, that after hearing Crown evidence during a three-day committal, he considered that there was a case to answer.
Gordon Kerr, QC for the prosecution, told the court that there was evidence from forensic experts which strongly supported the view that a series of bombings in 1998 were related to each other and were connected to the accused.
He claimed Hoey's DNA had been found on three bombs and that, fibre evidence identified him as the man who made the timer. The court heard the prosecution claim that DNA on a bomb found at Altmore Forest was of enormous importance, Mr Kerr submitted that the possibility of it being any one, other than Hoey, was 680 million to one.
Martin O'Rourke, for the defence said that the accused could not be convicted on the forensic expert's opinion that all of the bombs had been made by the same person. He said that the prosecution team had been scraping the bottom of the barrel in suggesting the accused was connected with an explosion just because a warning call was made from a phone box near the home of a relative.
He suggested that evidence by a voice analyst that a voice on tape was "probably" that of Hoey was insufficient was inadequate grounds on which to base a case and added, "The evidence blatantly fall short of the accepted standard."
The Magistrate rejected defence efforts to have each charge looked at independently and dismissed the defence submission as "fatuous argument," saying, "I am satisfied there is a case to answer.'
He said, "The Crown invited me to look at the cumulative effect of the huge quantity of evidence that the defendant was the man who manufactured these 14 devices, the most devastating of which decimated the centre of Omagh and resulted in the tragic deaths of 29 innocent people."
Mr Perry said the South Armagh man had a case to answer on 58 charges but dismissed three others. A date for the trial has not yet been set.
When the defendant was asked if he had anything to say he said, "No."
FOLLOWING a series of failed legal moves by his defence team to have the case against him thrown out of court, Sean Hoey, a 36 year-old man from Jonesborough, South Armagh, will stand trial for the murder of 29 people in the Omagh bombing.
Belfast Magistrate Desmond Perry said on Friday, that after hearing Crown evidence during a three-day committal, he considered that there was a case to answer.
Gordon Kerr, QC for the prosecution, told the court that there was evidence from forensic experts which strongly supported the view that a series of bombings in 1998 were related to each other and were connected to the accused.
He claimed Hoey's DNA had been found on three bombs and that, fibre evidence identified him as the man who made the timer. The court heard the prosecution claim that DNA on a bomb found at Altmore Forest was of enormous importance, Mr Kerr submitted that the possibility of it being any one, other than Hoey, was 680 million to one.
Martin O'Rourke, for the defence said that the accused could not be convicted on the forensic expert's opinion that all of the bombs had been made by the same person. He said that the prosecution team had been scraping the bottom of the barrel in suggesting the accused was connected with an explosion just because a warning call was made from a phone box near the home of a relative.
He suggested that evidence by a voice analyst that a voice on tape was "probably" that of Hoey was insufficient was inadequate grounds on which to base a case and added, "The evidence blatantly fall short of the accepted standard."
The Magistrate rejected defence efforts to have each charge looked at independently and dismissed the defence submission as "fatuous argument," saying, "I am satisfied there is a case to answer.'
He said, "The Crown invited me to look at the cumulative effect of the huge quantity of evidence that the defendant was the man who manufactured these 14 devices, the most devastating of which decimated the centre of Omagh and resulted in the tragic deaths of 29 innocent people."
Mr Perry said the South Armagh man had a case to answer on 58 charges but dismissed three others. A date for the trial has not yet been set.
When the defendant was asked if he had anything to say he said, "No."
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE HERALD
Ref: TYH/022
Published Date: 05-Sep-05
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