Court told of bomb unit 'contact'

Twenty-nine people died in the Omagh bombing

The former chief executive of the NI forensic laboratory may have handled the timer power unit from the Omagh bomb, Belfast Crown Court has heard.

In an email, Richard Adams suggested he might have touched the device.

The defence said his actions showed a "casual disregard for maintaining the forensic integrity of the device".

Sean Hoey, 37, of Molly Road, Jonesborough, denies 58 charges including the murder of 29 people in Omagh in 1998.

Dr Ruth Griffin was the lead scientist on the Omagh bomb forensic review.

Months after she was appointed in 2001, she got an email from the then director of the forensic laboratary, Richard Adams.

Mr Adams, a forensic specialist, said that after the timer power unit, or detonation system of the Omagh bomb arrived in the laboratory, he went to have a look.

He said he did not remember touching it, but added: "Who knows?"

Dr Griffin said, at the time, the examination of the timer power unit had apparently been concluded and Mr Adams was alerting her to the need to eliminate his DNA profile, were it to turn up in later, more sensitive tests of the device.

The case continues