Omagh bombing trial date set
02/06/2006 - 15:23:01
The trial of the suspected master bomber accused of murdering 29 people in the Omagh bombing will start in September, it was announced today.
Mr Justice Weir set September 6 as the start date of the trial of electrician Sean Hoey, 36, the only man charged in connection with the Real IRA bombing in August 1998.
During a brief hearing at Belfast Crown Court the judge made clear to prosecution and defence lawyers that he wanted nothing to interfere with the start of the trial.
“I cannot overestimate that we should stick to the agreed timetable,” he told them.
It is expected the trial will last for around six weeks.
Hoey, from Molly Road, Jonesborough, on the South Armagh border, was not present in court for the hearing.
He faces a total of 58 charges relating to the Omagh bombing and a string of other bomb attacks carried out by the Real IRA.
Hoey will have been in custody for three years by the time his case comes to trial.
