06/09/2006

Judge adjourns Omagh bombing trial

The trial of the man accused of carrying out the Omagh bombing in 1998 has been adjourned.

The case was put off until September 18, after a defence lawyer told the court that he was feeling unwell, and had appeared before the court against medical advice.

Twenty-nine people, including unborn twins, died in Northern Ireland's single worst terrorist atrocity, on August 15 1998, after a car bomb exploded in the town centre.

Sean Gerard Hoey, 37, an electrician from Jonesborough, Armagh, is the only person to be charged in connection with the murders.

He faces 58 charges, including five other bombings, four bomb conspiracies, and six murder conspiracies.

He denies all the charges.

Families and friends of the victims have requested that a video-link system be set up in Omagh throughout the hearing, however the court has said that court service officials are investigating all possible options.

The trial, which is to be heard by Mr Justice Reg Weir, is expected to be one of the biggest in British and Irish legal history, and is likely to be one of the last major non-jury trials to be held in Northern Ireland.

(EF/KMcA)

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