1/09/06 (UK):
Voice Expert to Testify at Omagh Trial
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The Prosecution will adduce evidence from an expert in voice recognition who, having listened to the bomb warning audio recordings, came to the conclusion that it was the Defendant, Sean Hoey who had made the relevant telephone calls. For his part, Hoey denies ever being involved, and the trial is likely to be the lengthiest in UK criminal legal historyIn another twist, a police informant, who claims that security forces ignored advance warnings of the Omagh bombing, is prepared to appear as a defence witness in the trial of a man accused of the atrocity.
Evidence from Kevin Fulton, a former IRA bomb maker, could be used to cast doubt on prosecution claims that Sean Hoey was the only person capable of making that bomb. Fulton said yesterday that he would be happy to appear as a witness at the trial, if he was subpoenaed.
He is said to have met Peter Corrigan, the Belfast lawyer acting for Hoey, at the London offices of British Irish Rights Watch, a human rights group.
Hoey, 36, from Jonesborough, south Armagh, has been committed for trial for the murders of 29 people killed in the 1998 Real IRA atrocity. He faces 61 terrorist and explosive charges, all of which he denies.
At committal proceedings the prosecution alleged that the detonation system of the Omagh car bomb, which was contained in a lunchbox, was manufactured using methods distinctive to Hoey.
The defence team is expected to make a number of applications for disclosure when the trial opens and will seek to establish whether British or Irish intelligence agents or informants were involved in any way in the planning or execution of the bombing.
Fulton has told the Northern Ireland police ombudsman, that he warned his police handler that he had seen another bomb maker, referred to as Man A, mixing explosives shortly before the Omagh bombing.
There have been repeated suggestions that Man A, was also an informant and was protected by the authorities. Similar suspicions surround another Real IRA bomb maker who cannot be named for legal reasons.
© X-Pro 2006
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