19/05/2005

Armagh man to face 61 Omagh bomb charges

A 35-year-old Co Armagh man is to face 61 new charges linked to the 1998 Omagh bombing in which 29 people were killed.

Sean Gerard Hoey, from Jonesborough, appeared before court in Craigavon on Thursday to hear that he will face the new charges as well as 29 counts of murder next week.

His solicitor, Peter Corrigan, said the case had been handled in a "most unacceptable manner" and that he had not been informed that the DPP had directed police to bring charges against his client earlier this month.

A police spokesperson, however, said "significant time and resources" had been dedicated to the ongoing investigation.

Twenty-nine people were killed and hundreds injured in the car bomb attack in the Co Tyrone town on 15 August 1998.

The bombing, which was later claimed by dissident republican paramilitary group the Real IRA, was the worst single atrocity in the Northern Ireland ‘Troubles’.

(MB)

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