Unrelated charges against a Northern Ireland man accused of planting the Omagh bomb that killed 29 people are expected to be dropped after a prosecutor admitted to gaps in evidence.
Efforts to link Sean Hoey (37) to some aspects of "Real IRA" car bombings at Banbridge and Blackwatertown Road, Armagh, weeks before the 1998 Omagh attack failed after chief prosecutor Gordon Kerr QC's intervention at Belfast Crown Court.
Referring to a trailer-borne explosive at Blackwatertown, Mr Kerr conceded: "As such, it is not possible to determine the exact purposes of the device . . . we accept that the evidence as called does not lead to the conclusion [that Hoey conspired to murder]."
Hoey denies a total of 58 charges relating to dissident republican activity.