Real IRA liable for Omagh bombing
Families of those killed in Omagh bombing awarded £1.6m compensation after Real IRA held liable for attack
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Monday, 08, Jun 2009 02:26
The families of those killed in the Omagh bombing have been awarded £1.6 million in compensation after the Real IRA was held liable for the attack.
In a landmark civil case, the Real IRA's leader Michael McKevitt and three other men were held responsible for the bombing, which killed 29 people and unborn twins in August 1998.
Liam Campbell, Colm Murphy and Seamus Daly were also held liable, but Seamus McKenna was cleared.
No one has even been convicted in a criminal court over the bombing, with 38-year-old Sean Hoey, from Jonesborough in South Armagh, being acquitted in 2007.
But at Belfast high court, in a civil action part-funded by the UK government, Mr Justice Morgan said that on the balance of probabilities the four men and the organisation they belonged to were responsible.
Michael Gallagher, whose 21-year-old son died in the attack, hailed what he saw as a "tremendous moral victory for the families".
"We have sent out an important message to terrorists and their victims around the world - you now have a way of challenging those who've murdered your loved ones," he said.