Landmark action finds two men liable for Omagh bomb

Colm Murphy and Seamus Daly faced retrial after successful appeal

Two men have been found liable for the Omagh bombing following a landmark civil action taken by relatives of some of the victims.

Colm Murphy and Seamus Daly were ordered to face a retrial after they successfully appealed a finding of liability against them in the original case in Belfast High Court.

But their second trial has now delivered the same outcome in the same court, with judge Mr Justice John Gillen ruling the men were responsible for the 1998 Real IRA attack.

Mr Justice Gillen ruled today that Murphy and Daly assisted the preparation, planting and detonation of the bomb.

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Twenty-nine people, including a woman pregnant with twins, died when the dissident republican car bomb ripped through the Co Tyrone market town on August 15th, 1998. More than 200 were injured in the blast.

No-one has been successfully criminally convicted of the bombing, but in 2009 Murphy, a builder and publican from Dundalk, Co Louth, and Daly, a bricklayer from Cullaville, Co Monaghan, and two others were held responsible in the initial civil action taken by some of the bereaved families.

Along with Real IRA chief Michael McKevitt and Co Louth republican Liam Campbell, the men were ordered to pay Stg£1.6 million in damages.

While the defendants had legal aid, the lawyers for the plaintiffs, Lord Brennan QC and barrister Brett Lockhart insisted today the four men found to be responsible for the bombing would be pursued for the damages.

"Enforcement (for the damages) will be pursued here and in any relevant jurisdiction," said Lord Brennan.

McKevitt, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence in the Republic for directing terrorism, and Campbell, who recently successfully fought extradition proceedings to Lithuania on arms smuggling charges, failed in their bids to overturn the Omagh civil judgment.

They are now seeking to have their case heard in the European Court of Human Rights.

Murphy and Daly’s appeals were upheld but both men were ordered to face another trial. The retrial started in January and finished last month, with Mr Justice Gillen delivering his reserved judgment today.

"The barrier of time has not served to disguise the enormity of this crime, the wickedness of its perpetrators, and the grief of those who must bear the consequences. Even 15 years on nothing can dilute the pulsing horror of what happened," said the judge.

The Omagh families' solicitor Matthew Jury said the judgment meant "everyone now knows the names of some of those men who are responsible". The bombing was a "massacre of the innocent", he added.

Additional reporting PA