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28/11/01 - Killer's hearing moved
out of N-E
by Lindsay Jennings
Northern
Echo
CHILD killer Shaun Armstrong's High Court legal battle
has been transferred to London - allaying fears that
his case could be heard in the North-East. The Hartlepool
community had been outraged that Armstrong could appear
in court in the town where he abducted and carried out
the horrific murder of three-year-old Rosie Palmer.
But Liverpool County Court's District Judge Bennett
has made an order to transfer the case to the Royal
Courts of Justice in London. The hearing was initially
set for Liverpool, but the author Bernard O'Mahoney,
who is being sued by Armstrong, was keen for it to go
ahead in Hartlepool or London.
Of the two, Armstrong's solicitor, Liverpool-based Elkan
Abrahamson, supported the case being heard in London.
Councillor Kevin Kelly, a former member of the Rosie
Palmer Foundation, said bringing the case to the North-East
town would have incensed the community and "opened
old wounds".
He said: "I think people will be relieved and saying
thank goodness it is not going ahead in the town, but
I think they will still be against the fact that it's
going ahead at all."
Armstrong is suing Mr O'Mahoney for £15,000 over
a series of letters the killer sent and the profits
of any book which may be written. The Peterborough author
extracted a confession from Armstrong by writing to
him and pretending to be a woman, which the killer claims
breached his confidentiality.
His solicitor has said he wants the letters back and
does not want a book written about him. Mr Abrahamson
was unavailable for comment yesterday. Reacting to the
transfer, Mr O'Mahoney said: "I'm pleased it's
in London because that's where the media and the politicians
are and they will be more inclined to do something about
him being able to sue.
"I wanted it held in Hartlepool because people
there understand exactly what he did and what kind of
person he is. "I am sure he would have liked it
heard in some quiet, suburban court- room somewhere
and there wouldn't be any sense of outrage."
A hearing date is yet to be set. |
| Contact : bernard.omahoney@bernardomahoney.com |
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