Caution call over trial evidence

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/6055294.stm

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Prosecution lawyers at the Omagh bomb trial in Belfast have accepted that evidence from two of their witnesses should be "treated with caution".

Questions were raised last week about the testimony of a senior policeman and a scenes of crime officer.

Sean Hoey, 37, from Jonesborough, denies involvement in a series of bombings in 1998.

The prosecution accepted the judge would have to decide how much of the two witnesses' evidence to believe.

Last week, scenes of crime officer Fiona Cooper was accused by the defence of misleading the court. Detective Chief Inspector Philip Marshall admitted acting improperly when gathering statements.

The judge, Mr Justice Weir, had ordered the prosecution to study the transcripts of their testimony over the weekend. It related to a mortar bomb find at Altmore Forest near Dungannon.

On Monday, Gordon Kerr QC, leading the prosecution, accepted there were questions over some of that evidence and said that it should be treated with caution.

Effectively, it leaves the judge having to decide how much of their evidence he should believe.

Mr Hoey denies all 58 charges that he faces, including murdering 29 people in Omagh.