Omagh: Hoey seeks damages from victim's father

[johnfás]

Sean Hoey, found not guilty of several charges including murder in regard to the Omagh Bombing, is to seek damages from the father of a young boy who was killed in the tragedy. He is said to be angered by comments made by Victor Barker outside the courthouse following the judgement. Barker has stated that Ronnie Flanagan has many questions to answer, but also that there are suspicions surrounding Hoey's involvement in the atrocity. Barker was also heckled by journalists outside the courthouse as he made his statement.

[Skin]

Link?

[johnfás]

Just reported on Newstalk at 12:00 - will link when I have to hand.

[El Matador]

Barker was also heckled by journalists outside the courthouse as he made his statement.

In what way? Surely that is out of order if it happened.

[johnfás]

[quote=El Matador]

Barker was also heckled by journalists outside the courthouse as he made his statement.

In what way? Surely that is out of order if it happened.[/quote:1k7oal32]

They kept on shouting over him in order to get at the PSNI man who had made a statement before him. It was absolutely pathetic, it required an intervention from another representative of the victims group in order to allow Mr Barker to speak. I have highlighted the issue in the other thread- somewhere around page 2.

[Ireland2007]

Journalists tend to be quite pathetic...

Either way, just because the judgement didn't go the way people wanted it to go doesn't mean they can continue to make ubsubstantsiated claims about Sean Hoey.

[baldur0300]

Journalists tend to be quite pathetic...

Either way, just because the judgement didn't go the way people wanted it to go doesn't mean they can continue to make ubsubstantsiated claims about Sean Hoey.

Maybe not but Hoey would be insane to sue. He was found not guilty at a criminal trial. The civil standard of proof is a hell of a lot lower and the victims I am sure would love to subject to a defamation action in which they could defend themselves on the basis that he did what was alleged against him.

[FutureTaoiseach]

The problem that sunk the trial was the questionable DNA evidence using an internationally questionable technique. I don't agree with Hoey seeking damages from the parent of a victim who has suffered enough. Even so the father should probably not have said what he did. It could risk prejudicing a potential future civil-action.

[Halo]

The problem that sunk the trial was the questionable DNA evidence using an internationally questionable technique. I don't agree with Hoey seeking damages from the parent of a victim who has suffered enough. Even so the father should probably not have said what he did. It could risk prejudicing a potential future civil-action.

The problem was that they'd no evidence whatsoever. They falsified statement, doctored photos and called unreliable witnesses.
A farce, a cover up and an attemp to send an innocent man to jail for life to protect British intelligences roll in the whole matter.
Kevin skelton who lost his wife sums the whole thing up:

I watched the first two weeks of it through a video link in Omagh and I had to stop- it was a shambles,” said Skelton.

‘‘It’s a show trial, it never should have went to court I wouldn’t convict him [Hoey] on the evidence that was presented to the court.

‘‘The police witnesses were a disaster, it was all over the place. There was too many lies told in the court. The people who should be in court are the government.”
Skelton said that, since the bombing, the British and Irish governments had been more concerned about ‘‘covering up what took place, rather than trying to solve it’’.

‘‘I’ve been told by senior security people, in private that, if the truth ever came out, it could end political careers for a lot of people, north and south. We know no one will ever be convicted of the bombing and the governments have no real interest in pursuing the case,” said Skelton.
Skelton’s comments reflect a growing resentment and anger among many of the Omagh bomb victims’ families that the British and Irish governments have done too little to uncover the truth behind the bomb.

Skelton said he also believed that the intelligence services of both states had prior knowledge of the attack, but a political decision was taken to allow the attack to go ahead. Hoey’s trial has been dogged by controversy since it began last year.

[pocleary]

The problem that sunk the trial was the questionable DNA evidence using an internationally questionable technique. I don't agree with Hoey seeking damages from the parent of a victim who has suffered enough. Even so the father should probably not have said what he did. It could risk prejudicing a potential future civil-action.

the judge said the evidence AND the police were tainted,
so there was and is no evidence and what existed was made up by the police,