NEW DOUBTS IN BOMB EVIDENCE
NEW DOUBTS IN BOMB EVIDENCE
WITH the Omagh bomb trial set to resume this morning fresh doubts have been cast on the evidence being used against Sean Hoey, the man accused of the murder of the 29 people killed in the Omagh bomb on August 15, 1998.
The prosecution case relies heavily on DNA and fibre evidence and it is the collection and storing of this evidence which Hoey's defence team believes may not stand up to scrutiny.
The prosecution also relies on the drawing on similarities hi construction of devices used in other attacks with the Omagh case and linking them to Hoey (37).
Before the trail adjourned for the weekend the leading London barrister Orlando Pownall acting for Hoey had challenged the continuity and integrity of the prosecution exhibits.
During the first week of the trial, which is expected to last up to three months, the defence barrister stated that markings attached to items seized appeared to be inconsistent with accompanying paperwork.
Cross-examining Scenes of Crime officer Mrs Fiona Cooper at Belfast Crown Court, the defence barrister suggested that items taken from the scene of a mortar bomb attack at Forkhill RUC station in March 1998, were not properly bagged and sealed. This was refuted by the witness. However, she went on to tell the trial judge, Mr Justice Weir, the officers "must have overlooked" taking a photograph of the timer power unit.
Evidence was also given about the. 6001b car bomb which was left in Lisburn on April 30, 1998, just months before the Omagh explosion. A former Army major, Jonathon Whitaker, from the bomb squad said that parts of the device could have been "forensically altered." This allegedly occurred as officers made safe the device. Two Army technical officers have now given differing evidence relating to how the timer power unit was handled.
A scenes of crime officer testified that black tape, which appears on the timer in photos when it was examined at a forensic lab three years later, was not on the item when he bagged it at the scene of the attack.
Mr Whitaker also admitted that in the Army Technical Officer's report of the Lisburn incident, there was no record of the alteration made before the items were handed over to Scenes of Crime Officers.
He told the judge that although there are no written instructions for ATOs to use tape on bombs they make safe, "These instructions are within the training and safety procedures when dealing with electric detonators."
Under re-examination from defence QC Orlando Pownall, Mr Whitaker conceded that, "It would be rather annoying to put tape over a finger print, thereby ruining potential evidence."
The trial resumes this morning.
WITH the Omagh bomb trial set to resume this morning fresh doubts have been cast on the evidence being used against Sean Hoey, the man accused of the murder of the 29 people killed in the Omagh bomb on August 15, 1998.
The prosecution case relies heavily on DNA and fibre evidence and it is the collection and storing of this evidence which Hoey's defence team believes may not stand up to scrutiny.
The prosecution also relies on the drawing on similarities hi construction of devices used in other attacks with the Omagh case and linking them to Hoey (37).
Before the trail adjourned for the weekend the leading London barrister Orlando Pownall acting for Hoey had challenged the continuity and integrity of the prosecution exhibits.
During the first week of the trial, which is expected to last up to three months, the defence barrister stated that markings attached to items seized appeared to be inconsistent with accompanying paperwork.
Cross-examining Scenes of Crime officer Mrs Fiona Cooper at Belfast Crown Court, the defence barrister suggested that items taken from the scene of a mortar bomb attack at Forkhill RUC station in March 1998, were not properly bagged and sealed. This was refuted by the witness. However, she went on to tell the trial judge, Mr Justice Weir, the officers "must have overlooked" taking a photograph of the timer power unit.
Evidence was also given about the. 6001b car bomb which was left in Lisburn on April 30, 1998, just months before the Omagh explosion. A former Army major, Jonathon Whitaker, from the bomb squad said that parts of the device could have been "forensically altered." This allegedly occurred as officers made safe the device. Two Army technical officers have now given differing evidence relating to how the timer power unit was handled.
A scenes of crime officer testified that black tape, which appears on the timer in photos when it was examined at a forensic lab three years later, was not on the item when he bagged it at the scene of the attack.
Mr Whitaker also admitted that in the Army Technical Officer's report of the Lisburn incident, there was no record of the alteration made before the items were handed over to Scenes of Crime Officers.
He told the judge that although there are no written instructions for ATOs to use tape on bombs they make safe, "These instructions are within the training and safety procedures when dealing with electric detonators."
Under re-examination from defence QC Orlando Pownall, Mr Whitaker conceded that, "It would be rather annoying to put tape over a finger print, thereby ruining potential evidence."
The trial resumes this morning.
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE HERALD
Ref: TYH/039
Published Date: 02-Oct-06
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