Omagh bomb accused in bid to halt case
The man accused of the Omagh bomb murders will attempt to have the case against him halted, it emerged today.
Electrician Sean Gerard Hoey, 35, from South Armagh, is due to face a total of 61 new charges when he appears in person at court in Northern Ireland in seven days.
But as prosecutors revealed the extra charges against him, which include the 29 deaths in the 1998 Real IRA no-warning bomb attack, his legal representative hit out at how the case had been handled.
Defence solicitor Peter Corrigan told Craigavon Magistrates’ Court: “He was first interviewed in 1998 about Omagh and other offences.
“We submit that the prosecution has been conducted in a most unacceptable manner. The prosecution have manipulated the process.”
Hoey, who is already facing a series of terrorist and explosive-related charges – including membership of the dissident republican organisation behind Northern Ireland’s worst terrorist atrocity – is due to be formally charged with the murders following a major review of all available forensic evidence.
The Director of Public Prosecutions directed that he could be accused after studying a mammoth police file.
But Mr Corrigan claimed the court had been misled in the case against Hoey, of Molly Road, Jonesborough, and pledged to launch an abuse of process application in an attempt to have the proceedings stopped.
He said: “Throughout earlier discussions about the case, there was no mention of impending murder charges.
“The delay was a breach of his human rights... and it’s prejudicing our client in relation to receiving a fair trial.”
