Landmark ruling in personal injuries terrorism case
FOUR men have been found liable for causing personal injury in one of Northern Ireland’s worst bombings – the first time that personal injury legislation has been successfully brought involving a terrorist attack.
Michael McKevitt, Liam Campbell, Colm Murphy, Seamus Daly and the Real IRA liable were found culpable in various ways for the Omagh bomb explosion in which 29 people and two unborn babies were killed in August 1998, and awarded personal injury damages worth £1.6m to family members who brought the action.
Delivering his verdict in the High Court in Belfast, Mr Justice Morgan said: “For many, the effects are catastrophic and their lives will never be the same.”
The plaintiffs claimed damages for personal injuries they received as a result of the bomb explosion, and also entered further claims for damages because of the death of family members, alleging that the defendants were responsible for the planning, production, planting and detonation of the bomb.
Mr Justice Morgan said that the court had only to decide if any personal compensation claim was valied, rather than determin any criminal charge. “The role of the court is to establish whether the plaintiffs have discharged the burden of demonstrating that the defendants were responsible for causing harm to the plaintiffs in the manner alleged and, if so, to determine what, if any, damages are payable in respect of the harm proved,” he added.