POLICE IGNORE SUSPICIOUS MAN IN OMAGH BOMB HUNT INQUIRY
Police ignored suspicious man in Omagh bomb hunt inquiry
BY ANTON McCABE
THE family of an Omagh bomb victim is concerned police are ignoring possibly vital evidence about intelligence gathering by the bombers before the August 1998 city, Siobhan Rush, went to police and made a statement a month after the bombing about a man who had acted suspiciously in her mother's shop in Market Street in mid-July 1998.
Police have never re-interviewed or contacted her since, nor told her if the man has been eliminated from inquiries. Siobhan was in the shop when the man came in, walked round, left, then returned and stood in the entrance.
"He asked me 'Can you park here?'," said Siobhan. "I said, 'You can't really, it's not necessarily allowed, but people do if they're delivering something'.
"What was strange was, he didn't have a car. He went straight across the road to Kells's shop."
The bomb car was parked directly outside Kells. The year before the bombing, there had been an organised boycott of Kells' shops in Fermanagh because of suspicions that owner Roy Kells was involved with the Drumcree protests.
Siobhan immediately thought the man's actions strange because Libbi Rush's shop did not usually attract male customers.
"It was a gift shop," said Siobhan. "Men would come in usually with something in mind. They wouldn't browse."
The man was in his late 30s or early 40s, of average height and slim build. He was casually dressed, with a couple of days' growth of beard.
"He wasn't local. He had a Northern Ireland accent, but I couldn't say where," said Siobhan.
Siobhan's father Laurence is taking legal action against the Secretary of State and the Chief Constable for negligence by the security forces in allowing the bomb to enter Omagh.
"The police have been going over the Omagh investigation again," Laurence Rush said. "It's blatant that they haven't re-interviewed Siobhan. This could be a very important lead in the case."
BY ANTON McCABE
THE family of an Omagh bomb victim is concerned police are ignoring possibly vital evidence about intelligence gathering by the bombers before the August 1998 city, Siobhan Rush, went to police and made a statement a month after the bombing about a man who had acted suspiciously in her mother's shop in Market Street in mid-July 1998.
Police have never re-interviewed or contacted her since, nor told her if the man has been eliminated from inquiries. Siobhan was in the shop when the man came in, walked round, left, then returned and stood in the entrance.
"He asked me 'Can you park here?'," said Siobhan. "I said, 'You can't really, it's not necessarily allowed, but people do if they're delivering something'.
"What was strange was, he didn't have a car. He went straight across the road to Kells's shop."
The bomb car was parked directly outside Kells. The year before the bombing, there had been an organised boycott of Kells' shops in Fermanagh because of suspicions that owner Roy Kells was involved with the Drumcree protests.
Siobhan immediately thought the man's actions strange because Libbi Rush's shop did not usually attract male customers.
"It was a gift shop," said Siobhan. "Men would come in usually with something in mind. They wouldn't browse."
The man was in his late 30s or early 40s, of average height and slim build. He was casually dressed, with a couple of days' growth of beard.
"He wasn't local. He had a Northern Ireland accent, but I couldn't say where," said Siobhan.
Siobhan's father Laurence is taking legal action against the Secretary of State and the Chief Constable for negligence by the security forces in allowing the bomb to enter Omagh.
"The police have been going over the Omagh investigation again," Laurence Rush said. "It's blatant that they haven't re-interviewed Siobhan. This could be a very important lead in the case."
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/1785
Published Date: 09-Sep-04
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