Apology over binned bomb evidence

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/5399558.stm

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A senior police officer has apologised at the Omagh bomb trial for allowing mortar bomb evidence to be destroyed due to a lack of storage space.

The items were used in 1998 in an attempted attack on Grosvenor Road police station in Belfast.

Sean Hoey, 37, from Jonesborough, who denies 58 terror charges, is not charged in connection with that attack.

The prosecution is attempting to show a pattern between that attack and others that year, including the Omagh bombing.

The officer, who was a detective inspector at the time, said it had been done because of a shortage of storage space.

However, he said that if he had known about future advances in DNA technology he would never have allowed the evidence to be disposed of.

The court has also been hearing evidence about a mortar attack on Belleek police station, in May 1998 - one of a number of bombings Mr Hoey is accused of.

Mr Hoey, from Molly Road in the County Armagh town, faces charges relating to the murder of 29 people in Omagh in 1998 and more Real IRA attacks including one in 2001.

The proceedings are being broadcast in Omagh for the victims' families, under the same rules as would apply in court.

The link, between Belfast Crown Court and Omagh College was set up at the request of a relatives' support group and will be available for the duration of the trial.