Omagh calls 'deliberately vague'

Sean Hoey faces a total of 58 charges

The Omagh bomb trial has been told that telephoned warnings ahead of the explosion which killed 29 people were deliberately vague and misleading.

Prosecution lawyers were responding to an attempt by the defence to have the case against Sean Hoey thrown out.

Mr Hoey, 37, of Jonesborough, County Armagh, denies 58 charges, including the 29 murders in Omagh in August 1998.

The prosecution claimed that he had made the bomb timers, and that the bombers meant to kill.

Prosecution QC Gordon Kerr told trial judge Mr Justice Weir that the warnings given about the Omagh bombing were vague, misleading, inaccurate and wrong, unlike the warnings given for other bombings in Lisburn, Armagh, Newry and Banbridge in 1998.

Mr Kerr said there was a "callous and blatant disregard for the consequences of the explosion".

The prosecution claim there is also fibre evidence and alleged patterns between the bombings.

The sensitive form of DNA being used in this trial has been called the foundation stone of their case, but its reliability has been consistently under scrutiny.

The prosecution are expected to complete their submission on Tuesday.