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Relatives await judgment in Omagh lawsuit

Belfast court to rule today in first civil case brought against alleged terrorists

David Young,Press Association
Monday 08 June 2009 00:00 BST
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The judgment in a multi million-pound legal action against five men accused of the Omagh bombing will be delivered today in the first case in which alleged terrorists have been sued.

The relatives of some of the 29 people killed in the 1998 Real IRA atrocity are suing the men for up to £14m. They launched the landmark civil action in frustration at the ongoing failure of the authorities to secure a successful criminal conviction over the attack.

It is believed to be the first time anywhere in the world that alleged members of a terrorist organisation have been the subject of a civil lawsuit.

Mr Justice Morgan is set to deliver his judgment at Belfast High Court.

Michael McKevitt, an alleged founding member of the dissident republican group, is one of the five men defending the claim for damages.

Another is Liam Campbell, a farmer from County Louth, who is in custody in Northern Ireland and facing extradition to Lithuania over arms smuggling charges.

The other defendants are Colm Murphy, also from County Louth, who was found guilty in Dublin's Special Criminal Court in 2002 of conspiring to cause the Omagh bomb, but whose conviction was later quashed, and Seamus McKenna and Seamus Daly.

The families are also suing the Real IRA as an organisation. They launched the action more than eight years ago and the trial began in April. It made legal history when it crossed the border to hear evidence in an Irish court.

The legal bid has cost an estimated £2m. The families have been supported in their efforts to raise funds for the court case by the former US president Bill Clinton, the former Northern Ireland secretaries Peter Mandelson and Sir Patrick Mayhew as well as the musician Bob Geldof and the boxing champion Barry McGuigan.

Michael Gallagher, whose son Aiden, 21, was among the dead, said the civil judgment would mark the end of a long and difficult legal process.

"Regardless of the result, this has been worthwhile, it has empowered the families like never before. Unlike the other [criminal] cases where the PSNI and Garda have taken the lead, this has all been led by the families.

"We have also set a first in that families have taken alleged perpetrators to court. We have done all we could and our legal team has done all it could. It's now down to the court to decide."

In December 2007, Sean Hoey, 38, from Jonesborough, South Armagh, was cleared at Belfast Crown Court of murdering the 29 people. He was acquitted of 58 charges, including some not directly linked to the bombing.

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