Man Cleared In Notorious N. Ireland Bombing

LONDON, Dec. 20 -- A judge in Belfast on Thursday acquitted the only person ever charged with murder in the 1998 bombing in the Northern Ireland town of Omagh, which killed 29 people in the bloodiest attack of the province's three decades of sectarian violence.

Sean Hoey, 38, an electrician arrested in 2003 after police said DNA evidence linked him to the bomb, was found not guilty by Judge Reginald Weir, who criticized forensic work by police as "slapdash" and accused investigators of "deliberate and calculated deception" in their efforts to convict Hoey.

"I am acutely aware that the stricken people of Omagh would wish to see whoever was responsible for that outrageous offense convicted and punished for their crimes," Weir said, announcing his decision following a 56-day trial that ended 11 months ago.

"But I must also bear in mind the cardinal principle of criminal law," Weir added, concluding that police had not established beyond a reasonable doubt that Hoey built the car bomb that exploded in a crowded market in August 1998.

The Omagh bombing was a critical event in the history of the conflict known as the Troubles, and came just four months after the landmark Good Friday peace accord. That agreement ultimately led this year to a power-sharing government between the province's rival Protestant and Catholic communities.

After the bombing, then-British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, two key players in the Good Friday peace talks, traveled together to Omagh, where they said the bombers were attempting to scuttle the fragile peace process and would be caught.

Police said the bombing, which killed 11 people younger than 18 and wounded 200 others, was carried out by the Real IRA, a dissident offshoot of the Irish Republican Army. The splinter group was widely seen as angry that Sinn Fein, the IRA's political affiliate, was taking part in peace talks with the British government.

The group was also angry that the IRA agreed to a truce in its campaign to violently force Britain to give up control of Northern Ireland and bring about reunification with the Republic of Ireland.

The only other person charged in connection with the Omagh bombing was Colm Murphy, Hoey's uncle. He was convicted in 2002 of conspiring with the bombers. But his conviction was overturned in 2005 when a judge ruled that detectives had lied about the evidence against Murphy. He is awaiting a retrial.

Hoey has always maintained his innocence. His mother, Rita, read a statement after the verdict decrying the police "witch hunt" against her son. "I want the world to know that my son, Sean Hoey, is innocent," she said. "This is not a failure to bring those responsible to justice."

The police case against Hoey was based largely on DNA and fiber evidence linking him to the bomb. Weir said police had shown a "cavalier disregard" for the way they bagged and labeled evidence. And he agreed with defense attorneys who said police officers had deliberately lied to "beef up" evidence against Hoey.

Minority Catholics in the province have long accused the predominantly Protestant police force of discriminating against them and engaging in violence against them. A British government report this year concluded that during the years of the conflict, police had colluded with Protestant paramilitary informants, even those implicated in murders.

After the verdict, the Northern Ireland police force issued a statement accepting the decision and promising to review its investigative procedures.

Victor Barker, whose 12-year-old son was killed in the bombing, said he blamed the "appalling inefficiency" of police for the acquittal.

Barker told reporters he accepted the ruling and understood the importance of safeguarding the rights of defendants at trial. "It is only a great shame that my son and [the others] who died in Omagh have no human rights at all," he said.

Lawrence Rush, whose wife was killed in the bombing, told reporters he was "exhausted after 10 years of pain and hope." But, he said, "I would not have wanted the wrong man to be convicted."

Michael Gallagher, who lost his 21-year-old son in the attack, called the trial "the scandal of the century" and demanded a joint inquiry into the bombing by the British and Irish governments.