POLICE TO CONSIDER OMAGH RE-TRIAL
Police to consider Omagh retrial
BY ROSETTA DONNELLY
THE legal team of Sean Hoey, who was acquitted of the 29 murders at Omagh, said his client will not be prosecuted again for the bombing.
Solicitor Kevin Winters said it was "absolute nonsense" to think that his client would be prosecuted a second time. "He was acquitted after an exhaustive case and he is a free man," Mr Winters added.
In December 2007, Hoey was found not guilty and trial judge Justice Reg Weir criticised the evidence presented by the prosecution and in particular accused two scene-of-crime officers of misleading the court on material recovered from the scene of a bomb find in a forest at Dungannon.
But earlier this year ombudsman Al Hutchinson cleared the officers of a deliberate deception and questioned the defence team's claim that evidence from Altmore Forest was wrongly handled.
On the back of these findings, the police have now undertaken a comprehensive review of all the evidence from Altmore and the other Real IRA attacks, including Omagh, to see if a new case can be brought against Hoey.
Assistant Chief Constable Drew Harris gave details of the re-examination during a meeting of the Policing Board in Belfast on Thursday.
"After the ombudsman reports of February this year we have revisited all of the evidence again, not only in respect of the Omagh bombing but other bombing attacks around that time involving the Real IRA," he said.
"Working through that what we are looking for is new evidential opportunities, realistically we have to find substantial new evidence if there is any possibility of a criminal prosecution."
Mr Harris said the review would involve looking at issues in the civil case and would not only focus on Hoey.
However, Mr Winters said, "The remarks following the Policing Board meeting and subsequent reporting amounts to retrial by media..
"We would remind all media sources to be mindful of that when reporting the latest development," added the solicitor.
Meanwhile, the Public Prosecution Service announced that it was examining the findings of the Omagh civil case to see if it provided a basis on which to bring fresh criminal proceedings.
BY ROSETTA DONNELLY
THE legal team of Sean Hoey, who was acquitted of the 29 murders at Omagh, said his client will not be prosecuted again for the bombing.
Solicitor Kevin Winters said it was "absolute nonsense" to think that his client would be prosecuted a second time. "He was acquitted after an exhaustive case and he is a free man," Mr Winters added.
In December 2007, Hoey was found not guilty and trial judge Justice Reg Weir criticised the evidence presented by the prosecution and in particular accused two scene-of-crime officers of misleading the court on material recovered from the scene of a bomb find in a forest at Dungannon.
But earlier this year ombudsman Al Hutchinson cleared the officers of a deliberate deception and questioned the defence team's claim that evidence from Altmore Forest was wrongly handled.
On the back of these findings, the police have now undertaken a comprehensive review of all the evidence from Altmore and the other Real IRA attacks, including Omagh, to see if a new case can be brought against Hoey.
Assistant Chief Constable Drew Harris gave details of the re-examination during a meeting of the Policing Board in Belfast on Thursday.
"After the ombudsman reports of February this year we have revisited all of the evidence again, not only in respect of the Omagh bombing but other bombing attacks around that time involving the Real IRA," he said.
"Working through that what we are looking for is new evidential opportunities, realistically we have to find substantial new evidence if there is any possibility of a criminal prosecution."
Mr Harris said the review would involve looking at issues in the civil case and would not only focus on Hoey.
However, Mr Winters said, "The remarks following the Policing Board meeting and subsequent reporting amounts to retrial by media..
"We would remind all media sources to be mindful of that when reporting the latest development," added the solicitor.
Meanwhile, the Public Prosecution Service announced that it was examining the findings of the Omagh civil case to see if it provided a basis on which to bring fresh criminal proceedings.
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE HERALD
Ref: TYH/089
Published Date: 15-Jun-09
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