Two men who were sued over the Omagh bomb have been found liable for the August 1998 atrocity at their civil retrial.
Colm Murphy and Seamus Daly were taken to court by some of the victims’ families who were seeking damages for the atrocity in which 29 people died.
Three schoolboys from Buncrana – and two Spanish students visiting the Co Donegal town – were among those killed when Real IRA terrorists planted a bomb in the centre of the Tyrone town in August 1998.
Oran Doherty, who was just 8 and is pictured here and Sean McLaughlin (12) and James Barker (12) died in the terrorist outrage.
Spanish student Fernando Blasco Baselga (12) and Rocio Abad Ramos, a group leader who were staying with local families in Buncrana at the time, also died.
The judge in Belfast today described the evidence against the two men over the 1998 bombing as “overwhelming.”
Neither man was at the High Court in Belfast to hear the 73 page judgement.
Mr Justice John Gillen said both had lied to Gardai after their arrest and that their failure to give evidence to the court strengthened the case against them.
No-one has been successfully criminally convicted of the bombing.
In the absence of criminal convictions, some of the victims’ families took a landmark civil action, seeking damages from the men they believed were responsible.
The retrial followed the original Omagh bomb civil case, which is believed to be the first time anywhere in the world that alleged members of a terrorist organisation have been sued.
The first trial concluded in June 2009, when a judge ruled that four men – Real IRA leader Michael McKevitt, Liam Campbell, Colm Murphy and Seamus Daly – were all responsible for carrying out the atrocity.
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