Omagh bombing inquiry hears evidence of movements of car that carried bomb

The Omagh Bombing Inquiry has heard more pre-recorded video evidence from a senior Irish police officer about the movements of the car which carried the bomb to Omagh.

Det Supt Emmett Casserly of An Garda Síochána was questioned by the inquiry team about evidence gathered by the service.

Paul Greaney KC took the garda through the evidence held that related to the theft of the car and its known movements.

The inquiry heard that gardaí evidence did not show where the car was located after it was stolen in the early hours of the 13 August until 15 August 1998 when the bomb exploded.

There was no conclusive eyewitness testimony of the route taken by the car, or where it set off from to journey to Omagh.

"There were a myriad of routes that could have been taken by the car."

The gardaí investigation following the bombing tracked the car route from county Monaghan and county Louth to Omagh and back.

An expert from the Garda Mapping Section setting out that the "most probable" route took in Castleblaney in county Monaghan and Aughnacloy in county Fermanagh.

The route was tracked using mobile phone data and cell site masts.

Garda Síochána worked with the RUC so that the route taken by the car could be tracked cross-border.

The inquiry also heard further evidence from data analyst Mark Safranauskas of Greater Manchester Police.

He was taken through the mobile phone activity of two "key individuals" in the enquiry.

Seamus McKenna and Seamus Daly are linked to mobile phones that were tracked from the Republic of Ireland to Omagh on the day of the bombing.

The phones were purportedly given to them by Colm Murphy.

All three previously faced legal proceedings in connection to the bombing.

The inquiry heard evidence about the movement of two cars the maroon Vauxhall Cavalier which carried the bomb and another "scout car" which accompanied it on the journey and may have taken the two men back to the Republic of Ireland.

The court was shown CCTV from an army checkpoint at Aughnacloy in county Fermanagh.

But footage of the bomb car wasn't captured.

The footage from 13:30 to 14:00 BST on the day of the bombing was paused for a time meaning around 8.5 minutes of cars passing through was missed.

And it was likely that the car carrying the bomb could have passed through in that time.

The evidence of five eyewitnesses to the movement of the car in Omagh was also described to the hearing.

The witnesses placed the car driving into the town and parking.

Some of the eyewitnesses were able to give a description of the two men in the vehicle.

The pre-recorded format has been met with criticism from the families of relatives who said the process eliminates the opportunity to cross-examine the witness.

Garda officers and other State witnesses were previously unable to speak to the inquiry due to concerns around national security.

In June, the Irish government brought in new legislation that allowed agreed questions to be put to the Garda and other state witnesses in an Irish court in front of a judge with the answers recorded for the inquiry.

The Irish government said it had "made clear its intention to do everything possible to assist the UK Omagh Bombing Inquiry and that is in the best interests of victims and their families".

They said the pre-recorded evidence was of a "factual nature and reflects the sequence of events in the days leading up to the bombing and on the day itself, as ascertained over the course of the Garda investigation into the bombing".

"This is an exceptional innovative measure put in place by the Minister to fulfil the desire of the Inquiry to set out all that is known in relation to the sequence of events in its first evidential hearing, in a manner that would aid the understanding of the public."