COMPENSATION CLAIM SCHOCKS OMAGH BOMB RELATIVES
Compensation claim shocks Omagh bomb relatives
BY JACQUELINE COURTNEY
Suspect questioned on atrocity claims �15,000 damages
A SUSPECTED former IRA member is seeking �15,000 compensation for trauma after being interviewed by police about the Omagh bomb double the amount paid to parents of children killed in the atrocity.
Numbed relatives have protested to the Government, urging ministers to resist any pay outs.
Lawyer Victor Barker, whose 12-year-old son, James was killed, received �7,000 compensation and said he was sickened by the suspect's claim that he was left traumatised during the questioning.
"It's pretty sickening that someone might get compensation of that level," he said.
The man from South Armagh was among dozens of republicans interviewed by detectives investigating the August 1998 Real IRA outrage.
At one stage during the interrogation harrowing photographs of the carnage were allegedly produced and shown to the man. He claimed police offered him no counselling for any trauma brought on by exposure to the shocking images.
The man who lodged the claim, a former prisoner, has not been charged in connection with Omagh.
Other relatives whose children died in the attack were horrified to learn the suspect is seeking double what they have been paid in Government compensation.
Michael Gallagher, whose son Aidan died in the blast, said: "For the Omagh families this is absolutely disgusting. The Government is prepared to give parents �7,000 and yet someone who looked at a photo can then walk away and claim �15,000."
Mr Gallagher said the action was even more sickening because the families received no payments for what they endured at the time.
"I had to go and look at what was left of someone I loved and yet the government decided I was not traumatised. The whole thing is a scandal," he said.
It is understood the man in question is a former Provisional IRA member who later turned against the Sinn Fein leadership of Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness. He aligned himself with hardline dissidents in south Armagh where some of the key suspects involved in Omagh lived.
His claim against the police was said to be at an advanced stage before NIO security minister Jane Kennedy was alerted.
A police spokesperson said the service was unable to speak about the case.
BY JACQUELINE COURTNEY
Suspect questioned on atrocity claims �15,000 damages
A SUSPECTED former IRA member is seeking �15,000 compensation for trauma after being interviewed by police about the Omagh bomb double the amount paid to parents of children killed in the atrocity.
Numbed relatives have protested to the Government, urging ministers to resist any pay outs.
Lawyer Victor Barker, whose 12-year-old son, James was killed, received �7,000 compensation and said he was sickened by the suspect's claim that he was left traumatised during the questioning.
"It's pretty sickening that someone might get compensation of that level," he said.
The man from South Armagh was among dozens of republicans interviewed by detectives investigating the August 1998 Real IRA outrage.
At one stage during the interrogation harrowing photographs of the carnage were allegedly produced and shown to the man. He claimed police offered him no counselling for any trauma brought on by exposure to the shocking images.
The man who lodged the claim, a former prisoner, has not been charged in connection with Omagh.
Other relatives whose children died in the attack were horrified to learn the suspect is seeking double what they have been paid in Government compensation.
Michael Gallagher, whose son Aidan died in the blast, said: "For the Omagh families this is absolutely disgusting. The Government is prepared to give parents �7,000 and yet someone who looked at a photo can then walk away and claim �15,000."
Mr Gallagher said the action was even more sickening because the families received no payments for what they endured at the time.
"I had to go and look at what was left of someone I loved and yet the government decided I was not traumatised. The whole thing is a scandal," he said.
It is understood the man in question is a former Provisional IRA member who later turned against the Sinn Fein leadership of Gerry Adams and Martin McGuinness. He aligned himself with hardline dissidents in south Armagh where some of the key suspects involved in Omagh lived.
His claim against the police was said to be at an advanced stage before NIO security minister Jane Kennedy was alerted.
A police spokesperson said the service was unable to speak about the case.
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/1615
Published Date: 16-Oct-03
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