Man faces multiple murder charges over Omagh bombing
A man is to be charged with murdering the 29 people who died in the Omagh bomb atrocity, it emerged tonight.
The office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in Belfast has given police the go-ahead after a mammoth new investigation which involved a review of all the forensic evidence by an international panel of scientists.
Papers outlining details of the charges are due to be served later this month on Sean Gerard Hoey, 35, an electrician from Jonesborough, south Armagh, sources told the Press Association.
It will be one the biggest mass murder trials in British and Irish legal history.
Hoey is already in custody on a series of terrorist charges and membership of the Real IRA, the dissident republican group which bombed Omagh in August 1998.
Apart from the 29 killed in the no-warning blast, including a woman pregnant with twins, more than 300 were injured in the worst single terrorist outrage in Northern Ireland.
Hoey is also accused of explosives charges as well as possessing timer units allegedly linked to several mortar, car and roadside bombs in the months before Omagh – at Forkhill and Crossmaglen, south Armagh, Lisburn, Co Antrim, Armagh city, Belleek, Co Fermanagh, Newry, Co Down, Blackwatertown, Co Armagh and two in Belfast, a railway halt at Finaghy on the southern outskirts and a police station near the city centre.
With documents running into thousands, the police files in the case have been with the Director of Public Prosecutions since last summer after a complex 18-month review of all the forensic evidence by scientists from Toronto, New York and Switzerland.
A spokesperson for the Police Service of Northern Ireland said tonight: “The Omagh inquiry is very much a live investigation to which police continue to dedicate significant time and resources.
“The current position is that the senior investigating officer has received instructions from the DPP which are being processed.”
The new police inquiry began in May 2002 and followed damming criticism by the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman Nuala O’Loan of the original investigation by the Royal Ulster Constabulary and the then Chief Constable Sir Ronnie Flanagan.
Later, the then acting Chief Constable Colin Cramphorn, now Chief Constable of West Yorkshire, and Sir Desmond Rea the chairman of the Northern Ireland Policing Board agreed to establish a fresh investigation headed up by assistant Chief Constable Sam Kinkaid with Detective Chief Superintendent Norman Baxter as the senior investigating officer.
Relatives of some of the victims who feared nobody would ever be charged with the murders mounted their own civil case against five men they believed were responsible. That may now have to be delayed until after Hoey’s trial which could last for at least six months.
A trial date could be set later this year with Garda officers from Dublin and the border regions among the witnesses expected to be called.
Hoey who is being held at Maghaberry Prison, near Lisburn, Co Antrim is due to appear at a remand hearing at Craigavon, Co Armagh on May 19.
It is understood detectives believe:
:: Associates of the Irish National Liberation Army (INLA) were involved in the theft in Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan, of the Vauxhall Cavalier car used in the Omagh bombing
:: The Continuity IRA assisted in the building of the device and
:: The Real IRA was responsible for delivering it.
At a High Court hearing in Belfast in April last year where he was refused bail, a Crown lawyer Gordon Kerr QC announced that police had informed Hoey that a file would be submitted to the DPP including a request he be charged with the 29 murders.
His defence lawyer Mr Philip Magee QC claimed it was probably the most complicated forensic case ever mounted in Northern Ireland.
His client, he said, was concerned about the integrity of the forensic process and the possibility it had been deliberately contaminated. He constantly denied being a member of any illegal organisation.
Mr Magee insisted: “He denies preparing, making, procuring or anything whatsoever to do with the Omagh bomb, and there is no suggestion of DNA from him on the device.”
Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden, 21, was among those killed at Omagh, said he was deeply relieved.
He said: “It’s what we’ve been waiting for and I would hope this will be the beginning of the end for the families.
“The investigation team has worked very, very hard and they’ve had our full support. We’re delighted things are starting to move.
“I’m happy for ourselves and happy for the investigation team. Our civil action pales into insignificance in comparison to this, but we will continue to pursue the twin track approach.”
At his home in Omagh tonight, Mr Gallagher added: “I would like the day when I can put all this behind me, happy to know we have done everything possible to pursue those those who committed mass murder in Omagh.”
Solicitor Victor Barker from Surrey, whose son James, 12, was also killed, said he was delighted.
He said: “It’s marvellous, but it has taken an awful long time.
“This is down to the dedication of the new investigation team and we’re grateful for Norman Baxter and the work he is doing. This is progress.”
