Families of Lockerbie bombing victims which killed two Sheffield women "absolutely floored" as trial postponed
Sheffield women were among victims of Lockerbie tragedy in 1988
Families whose loved ones died in thee Lockerbie bombing, inclusding two Sheffield women, have reacted to the news that the trial of a man charged over the atrocity has been postponed.
Jury selection was due to begin on Wednesday in Washington DC for the trial of Abu Agila Masud, who is charged with making the bomb that destroyed the plane, which he has denied.
Among those killed were Tracey Jane Corner, aged 17, of Millhouses, and nurse Josephine Hudson, 22, from Nether Edge.
Tracey, a former pupil at Abbeydale Grange School, was flying to America to spend Christmas with her brother when a bomb went off on the plane.
Josephine was flying out to meet up with her two older sisters for a skiing holiday.
In addition, former Park Hill midwife Mary Mulroy lost six members of her family, including her brother and sister.
All 259 passengers and crew and 11 people on the ground were killed when Pan Am Flight 103 exploded above Lockerbie on December 21, 1988, 40 minutes into its flight from London to New York.
On Monday, a federal judge in the US postponed the trial.
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The discovery of new evidence that defence lawyers want to examine was cited but the nature of the evidence was not specified in the order from US District Judge Dabney Friedrich.
Former Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset al-Megrahi is the only man convicted in relation to the bombing, after being found guilty of 270 counts of murder by a panel of three Scottish judges sitting at a special court in the Hague in 2001.
Kara Weipz, president of Victims of Pan Am Flight 103, lost her brother Rick Monetti in the atrocity and said she was shocked to hear of the postponement.
She told BBC Radio Scotland’s Breakfast programme: “As we’re processing the shock, there’s a lot of, ‘I can’t believe this is happening’.
“There’s so much anxiety leading into this week and obviously with jury selection this week, and with the anticipation of opening statements next week, people were getting ready to travel at the end of the week – and then knowing that all of a sudden it’s not happening right now, it’s just we have to live in this anxiety for however long until we actually get to trial.
She added: “I was floored today when I found out, absolutely floored.”
However, she said that while the postponement has come as a surprise, the delay could be worth it if the evidence helps discover more of the truth.
A hearing is scheduled to take place in Washington next month to discuss the status of the case.
Scottish prosecutors have always maintained that Megrahi acted with others in carrying out the attack.