Judge appointed to head bomb inquiry

SECRETARY of State for Northern Ireland, Chris Heaton-Harris, has appointed The Rt Hon Lord Turnbull as the chair of the Omagh Bomb inquiry.

The British government has said that the inquiry will investigate whether security forces could have prevented the 1998 attack.

It will also look at the handling and sharing of intelligence; the use of cell phone analysis; whether there was advanced knowledge or reasonable means of knowledge of the bomb; and whether disruption operations could, or should, have been mounted, which may have helped prevent the tragedy.

Lord Turnbull has worked on a number of high-profile legal cases and was a prosecutor on the Lockerbie bombing trial.

In 2006, Turnbull was appointed a Senator of the College of Justice, a judge of the Court of Session and High Court of Judiciary at the Supreme Courts of Scotland, with the judicial title, Lord Turnbull.

He was, at the time, Scotland’s youngest judge, at the age of 47.

Lord Turnbull said, “I am honoured to be appointed to chair this important Inquiry. I am very conscious of the devastation brought to the lives of so many by the atrocity which took place in Omagh in August 1998.

“I understand the determination of those who lost family and loved ones, and of those who were themselves injured, or whose family members were injured, to learn whether the attack could have been prevented.

“As soon as is practicable, I shall be seeking views from those affected about the inquiry.

“Once the inquiry’s terms of reference are finalised, I shall conduct an independent and robust inquiry in order to establish the truth.”