ROOKIE CONSTABLE FACED BAPTISM OF FIRE
Rookie constable faced 'baptism of fire'- coroner
A POLICE constable, just 12 weeks out of training when he was tasked to help clear the centre of Omagh of people, was told by Coroner, Mr. John Leckey, that he had undergone "a baptism of fire with a vengeance".
Constable Gary McClatchey, who has since been transferred to Lisburn, told the inquest that he and two colleagues, Constables Stewart and Doherty, stopped their police car at the junction of High Street and Bridge Street, and the three of them split up and moved off in different directions to help clear the area.
He said he moved up the left-hand side of the street, stopping off at Kelly's Chemists where he shouted for those inside to clear the town as there was a bomb outside the Courthouse.
He said he then went into Wattersons and shouted for people to leave, at which stage he was asked by a man and a woman which way to go and he pointed down Market Street.
He said he also told people in the Carlisle Bookshop to leave, and ordered motorists in High Street to leave the town using Bridge Street.
The inquest heard how Constable McClatchey then went to George Street where he encountered Constable James Morrell, who was clearing traffic, and he went back to High Street where two other constables were also clearing vehicles.
He said that he was then tasked to Foundry Lane, where he ushered people along, and he remembered ushering young foreign girls back down the lane and clearing shops.
Constable McClatchey said a four minute warning came over the police radio, at which point he ran up Foundry Lane and checked the town centre. It was clear from the Courthouse down to Scarffe's Entry and he stood at the bottom of Foundry Lane ensuring that people did not come back up.
He said when the bomb went off he knew immediately that the site of detonation was Market Street where he had ushered people to safety.
The constable said that he ran down to the bomb site, where he was met with women covered in blood, crying out to him for help.
"There were so many people..."
He told the inquest how he came across a man lying motionless in the middle of the road with serious facial injuries. He did not know who it was.
He then came upon two other policemen at an engine block under which a young girl was trapped, and he helped to free her.
He told the inquest there were "so many people", and he came upon a young girl outside McElroy's shoe shop lying under rubble, who he helped to dig out. At that time she was alive but unconscious and he stayed with her and rendered first aid.
He said he opened her airway and someone gave him towels. The girl had a weak pulse and was seriously injured, and he and two other people put her on a door and put her in the back of an armoured police vehicle to be taken to hospital.
Constable McClatchey said he also saw four or five bodies outside a shop, possibly Kells', but he could not identify them, and there were several dead people in a water filled crater on the road.
He said a sergeant shouted to them to clear all civilians out of the way and he then kicked in the doors of many shops.
At one stage he heard someone shouting "Where's the baby?" but he found nothing, and when he moved to the area at Nicholl and Shiels he was handed a number of personal belongings from people, which he eventually handed over at the temporary morgue at Lisanelly Army Barracks.
In cross-examination, Constable McClatchey said he believed the immediate threat of danger was in the vicinity of the Courthouse, and he added that he had only been stationed in Omagh for 12 weeks, prior to which he had just finished his police training.
Constable James Morrell also described the scenes of carnage that unfolded in Market Street.
He told the Inquest that he had driven a police car into the town centre and dropped off a number of colleagues before using the vehicle to block entry to the town at Castle Street.
He then began to help clear people from the area, and he recalled how police from Dromore had just arrived when there was a loud explosion.
Dust cloud
The constable said that he saw a huge dust cloud and lots of people walking around with injuries and he ran back to his car for his medical kit.
He said he returned to the scene where he initiated first aid on a young boy who had stomach injuries and burns, who told him "I Spanish, I Spanish".
After applying a field dressing he grabbed two men and told them to keep the pressure on the boy's side while he organised transport to hospital.
"At the time I spoke to him he was alive. I cannot say if he was one of the deceased," the constable said.
Elsewhere police were putting out the flames on the remains of a burning vehicle, and he found a woman with a severe injury to her leg to which he applied a field dressing. He said he found other people to look after her.
At this stage he had no bandages left and he went to Superdrug and then Boots Chemist shop in search of supplies.
At Boots he asked for bandages and ended up giving an armful of nappies to people who told him they had first aid experience, before grabbing more nappies and heading back to the bomb site.
When he returned, he said the majority of the injured had left, but he continued to search for other injured. Other than two women in shock at McElroy's there were only the dead left.
After searching the Campsie Road side of the junction he said he then began helping to remove the dead, including a woman and a small child whom he helped lift onto a stretcher.
He said he also helped lift an adult man from the street, and also assisted with the lifting of a dead woman from inside a shop selling pine furniture.
He said the dead were placed in an entry before he went to the cordon at the Tourist Information Centre, where he remained until 9.30pm.
In cross-examination he told the hearing that he could not recall the exact words of the radio transmission, but he believed the bomb was in the general area of the Courthouse and the focal point could have been anywhere in that general area.
Earlier in the proceedings, Constable Wesley Francis, who was on duty in Regional Control, Belfast, said he dealt with the second bomb warning to come from the UTV newsroom.
He said he was told that the caller told the administration assistant that the bomb was due to go off in 15 minutes, and that the location was non-specific in that it was 'Omagh town'.
He said he telephoned the information through to Omagh communications room and then logged the call on the computer system.
In cross-examination he said no mention was made of the bomb being in proximity to the Courthouse.
Sergeant Joseph Rory McCune, who was on supervising duty at the Belfast communications room, told the Inquest that he had logged on the computer the fact that the bomb warning dealt with by Constable George Mullan had been telephoned to Omagh.
In cross-examination he said that the imperative action in the case of bomb warnings was to pass the information on quickly, and added that there was a documented procedure for bomb warnings with the Samaritans.
A POLICE constable, just 12 weeks out of training when he was tasked to help clear the centre of Omagh of people, was told by Coroner, Mr. John Leckey, that he had undergone "a baptism of fire with a vengeance".
Constable Gary McClatchey, who has since been transferred to Lisburn, told the inquest that he and two colleagues, Constables Stewart and Doherty, stopped their police car at the junction of High Street and Bridge Street, and the three of them split up and moved off in different directions to help clear the area.
He said he moved up the left-hand side of the street, stopping off at Kelly's Chemists where he shouted for those inside to clear the town as there was a bomb outside the Courthouse.
He said he then went into Wattersons and shouted for people to leave, at which stage he was asked by a man and a woman which way to go and he pointed down Market Street.
He said he also told people in the Carlisle Bookshop to leave, and ordered motorists in High Street to leave the town using Bridge Street.
The inquest heard how Constable McClatchey then went to George Street where he encountered Constable James Morrell, who was clearing traffic, and he went back to High Street where two other constables were also clearing vehicles.
He said that he was then tasked to Foundry Lane, where he ushered people along, and he remembered ushering young foreign girls back down the lane and clearing shops.
Constable McClatchey said a four minute warning came over the police radio, at which point he ran up Foundry Lane and checked the town centre. It was clear from the Courthouse down to Scarffe's Entry and he stood at the bottom of Foundry Lane ensuring that people did not come back up.
He said when the bomb went off he knew immediately that the site of detonation was Market Street where he had ushered people to safety.
The constable said that he ran down to the bomb site, where he was met with women covered in blood, crying out to him for help.
"There were so many people..."
He told the inquest how he came across a man lying motionless in the middle of the road with serious facial injuries. He did not know who it was.
He then came upon two other policemen at an engine block under which a young girl was trapped, and he helped to free her.
He told the inquest there were "so many people", and he came upon a young girl outside McElroy's shoe shop lying under rubble, who he helped to dig out. At that time she was alive but unconscious and he stayed with her and rendered first aid.
He said he opened her airway and someone gave him towels. The girl had a weak pulse and was seriously injured, and he and two other people put her on a door and put her in the back of an armoured police vehicle to be taken to hospital.
Constable McClatchey said he also saw four or five bodies outside a shop, possibly Kells', but he could not identify them, and there were several dead people in a water filled crater on the road.
He said a sergeant shouted to them to clear all civilians out of the way and he then kicked in the doors of many shops.
At one stage he heard someone shouting "Where's the baby?" but he found nothing, and when he moved to the area at Nicholl and Shiels he was handed a number of personal belongings from people, which he eventually handed over at the temporary morgue at Lisanelly Army Barracks.
In cross-examination, Constable McClatchey said he believed the immediate threat of danger was in the vicinity of the Courthouse, and he added that he had only been stationed in Omagh for 12 weeks, prior to which he had just finished his police training.
Constable James Morrell also described the scenes of carnage that unfolded in Market Street.
He told the Inquest that he had driven a police car into the town centre and dropped off a number of colleagues before using the vehicle to block entry to the town at Castle Street.
He then began to help clear people from the area, and he recalled how police from Dromore had just arrived when there was a loud explosion.
Dust cloud
The constable said that he saw a huge dust cloud and lots of people walking around with injuries and he ran back to his car for his medical kit.
He said he returned to the scene where he initiated first aid on a young boy who had stomach injuries and burns, who told him "I Spanish, I Spanish".
After applying a field dressing he grabbed two men and told them to keep the pressure on the boy's side while he organised transport to hospital.
"At the time I spoke to him he was alive. I cannot say if he was one of the deceased," the constable said.
Elsewhere police were putting out the flames on the remains of a burning vehicle, and he found a woman with a severe injury to her leg to which he applied a field dressing. He said he found other people to look after her.
At this stage he had no bandages left and he went to Superdrug and then Boots Chemist shop in search of supplies.
At Boots he asked for bandages and ended up giving an armful of nappies to people who told him they had first aid experience, before grabbing more nappies and heading back to the bomb site.
When he returned, he said the majority of the injured had left, but he continued to search for other injured. Other than two women in shock at McElroy's there were only the dead left.
After searching the Campsie Road side of the junction he said he then began helping to remove the dead, including a woman and a small child whom he helped lift onto a stretcher.
He said he also helped lift an adult man from the street, and also assisted with the lifting of a dead woman from inside a shop selling pine furniture.
He said the dead were placed in an entry before he went to the cordon at the Tourist Information Centre, where he remained until 9.30pm.
In cross-examination he told the hearing that he could not recall the exact words of the radio transmission, but he believed the bomb was in the general area of the Courthouse and the focal point could have been anywhere in that general area.
Earlier in the proceedings, Constable Wesley Francis, who was on duty in Regional Control, Belfast, said he dealt with the second bomb warning to come from the UTV newsroom.
He said he was told that the caller told the administration assistant that the bomb was due to go off in 15 minutes, and that the location was non-specific in that it was 'Omagh town'.
He said he telephoned the information through to Omagh communications room and then logged the call on the computer system.
In cross-examination he said no mention was made of the bomb being in proximity to the Courthouse.
Sergeant Joseph Rory McCune, who was on supervising duty at the Belfast communications room, told the Inquest that he had logged on the computer the fact that the bomb warning dealt with by Constable George Mullan had been telephoned to Omagh.
In cross-examination he said that the imperative action in the case of bomb warnings was to pass the information on quickly, and added that there was a documented procedure for bomb warnings with the Samaritans.
Further Information
Publisher: TYRONE CONSTITUTION
Ref: TC/1527
Published Date: 14-Sep-00
Related Images
There have been no images archived for this article.