Omagh families sue police chief over failure to catch bombers

RELATIVES of 29 people killed in the Omagh bombing are to sue Northern Ireland’s police chief for failures that they believe allowed the killers to escape justice.

A writ against Chief Constable George Hamilton seeks damages for the families along with a declaration that their human rights had been breached.

The legal action is the latest in their two-decade quest for justice and comes ahead of next week’s 19th anniversary of the Real IRA outrage.

The families are also seeking to overturn the Government’s decision not to hold a public inquiry into whether the attack could have been prevented.

The action against Mr Hamilton focuses on what happened after the bomb detonated on August 15 1998 and why no one has yet been convicted in a criminal court. Four republicans were successfully sued in a civil trial that found they were responsible.

Michael Gallagher, whose 21-yearold son Aiden died in the car bombing, said the families needed answers.

“Here we are 19 years on and the criminals responsible for this are still walking the streets – there have been absolutely no punitive measures taken against any of them,” he said.

The action is issued in Mr Gallagher’s name on behalf of bereaved families belonging to the Omagh Support and Self Help Group, and cites the damning findings of official inquiries and court proceedings that identified multiple failures in the police investigation.