Man cleared of Omagh bombing: I may sue dead boy's father

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The only man to be directly accused over the Omagh bombing threatened yesterday to sue the father of one of the victims.

Lawyers for Sean Hoey said they were studying remarks made by Victor Barker, whose 12-year-old son James died in the bombing.

Mr Barker, a solicitor, said he still blames Hoey for his son's death after the case collapsed at Belfast Crown Court.

He was quoted in the Irish Daily Star as saying: "It is my view that Sean Hoey was one of the conspirators involved in the Omagh bomb, but I can't prove it."

Hoey's Belfast-based lawyer Kevin Winters refused to rule out suing Mr Barker for damages.

Mr Winters said: "Sean Hoey refutes completely the allegations made by Victor Barker when he persists in blaming him for Omagh.

"Mr Hoey is an innocent man and the court's judgment is an emphatic endorsement of his innocence.

"We will not hesitate to use the courts to protect his name."

On Thursday Hoey, an electrician from Jonesborough, was cleared at Belfast Crown Court of 56 charges, including 29 counts of murder relating to Omagh and other dissident republican bomb attacks.

Yesterday the man in charge of the police investigation, Sir Ronnie Flanagan, was fighting to save his career after the judge, Mr Justice Weir, described the RUC's investigation as "thoughtless and slapdash".

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Facing court action: Victor Barker and his son James, 12, who died in the Omagh blast

The judge, who sat without a jury, accepted defence claims that DNA evidence used to link the defendant to bombs could have been contaminated because of the lack of care taken by police and forensic officers.

Northern Ireland Secretary Sean Woodward has started a review of what went wrong.

He indicated that the consequences for former Ulster police chief Sir Ronnie were under scrutiny.

Sir Ronnie now holds one of the most senior positions in policing as Chief Inspector of Constabulary, responsible for overseeing police forces across the UK.

Meanwhile, pressure is mounting on Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams to name the Omagh bombers.

Families believe Sinn Fein has not done enough to help their quest for justice and that republicans may be able to provide information about those responsible for the 1998 attack in which 29 died.