The Five Demands

E’  Derek Williamson (Detective Chief Superintendent n.d.r.), capo del PSNI Sezione Crimini Gravi, a parlare.
In un articolo del Belfast Telegraph, Williamson sostiene come nonostante tutti gli sforzi per assicurare alla giustizia i colpevoli, sono almeno tre i casi di fondamentale importanza che sono rimasti irrisoltii: l’attentato di Omagh (nel 1998, la più grave tragedia dei Troubles in Irlanda del Nord, dove hanno trovato la morte 29 innocenti), l’omicidio di Robert McCartney e il caso Northern Bank.
“Abbiamo commesso degli errori? Sì, naturalmente. Noi siamo esseri umani. Noi cerchiamo di fare del nostro meglio. Esiste la possibilità che si possa tornare indietro su questi casi? Se nuovi elementi di prova verranno alla luce poi, sì, si riaprirebbero le indagini. Mai dire mai”.
Il processo dell’attentato di Omagh, che ha visto l’audizione di 500 testimonianze,  si è concluso dopo 56 giorni, con la completa assoluzione dell’unico imputato:  Sean Hoey. Sio è trattato del procedimento più dispendioso, nella storia, per le casse dello Stato.

We have done as much as we can on Omagh, says top officer
In the second day of an interview with the head of the PSNI’s Serious Crime Branch, Detective Chief Superintendent Derek Williamson speaks to Crime Correspondent Deborah McAleese about the Omagh bomb, the Northern Bank robbery and the Robert McCartney murder trial
It is unlikely anyone will ever be brought to justice for three of the biggest crimes in Northern Ireland’s recent history, the head of the Serious Crime Branch said.
Derek Williamson said detectives are no longer actively working on the Omagh bombing, the Northern Bank robbery or the Robert McCartney murder.
However, Mr Williamson said if new investigative opportunities arise the cases will be reviewed.
He said he regrets that nobody has been made amenable for the crimes. The failed trials — which cost the public purse millions of pounds — led to serious criticism of the PSNI and the Public Prosecution Service.
“Have we made mistakes? Yes of course. We are human beings. We try to do the best we can. Is it a prospect that we could go back over those cases? If new evidence comes to light then, yes, we would investigate them. Never say never.
“As the person now responsible for Omagh my assessment is that unless someone’s conscience pricks them and they come forward and tell us what they know or some key witness comes forward then unfortunately, investigatively we have done as much as we can. I have told the Omagh families this,” said Mr Williamson.
“It will always be regrettable that we haven’t made people amenable for all those murders. The same is true in those other investigations.
“Do we make mistakes? Yes. Do we regret them? Yes. Do we work hard to try and make sure we don’t make mistakes in the future? Yes.
“These cases remain open in the sense that if there is new evidence, if people come forward, we can go back and relook again. They are not open in the sense that we are actively working on them and investigating them.”
The Omagh bombing in 1998 was the largest single atrocity of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, claiming the lives of 29 people, one of who was a mother of unborn twins.
In 2007, after 56 days of evidence from 500 witnesses and a trial that cost millions of pounds, South Armagh man Sean Hoey was acquitted of involvement in the bombing.
Another blow for the PSNI and PPS came a few months later when the three men charged in connection with the murder of father-of-two Robert McCartney outside a Belfast pub were acquitted after a judge said the evidence was flawed.
And in October the case against the bank worker accused of stealing £26.5m from the Northern Bank collapsed when the prosecution announced that it would be offering no further evidence.