CLOSE TO £2.5 million (€3.12 million) has been paid to members of the defence in the Seán Hoey Omagh bombing trial.
The figures mean that more than £3.5 million has been spent on legal costs in the case which ended in December last year.
Seán Hoey walked free from court last year after the judge found him not guilty of a total of 58 charges relating to the 1998 Omagh bombing in which 29 people and unborn twins died, and other incidents.
The figures reported yesterday by BBC Northern Ireland include legal fees paid to lawyers as well as other costs and expenses associated with witnesses. These are interim figures and the final costs are expected to be much higher.
The costs of the failed prosecution have added to pressure on the police and the prosecution service, which has so far failed to secure convictions in three high-profile cases.
No one has yet been convicted in connection with the Omagh murders, nor in connection with the Northern Bank robbery nor the Robert McCartney murder.
Defendants in all cases have been freed.