POLICE OFFICERS WILL REQUIRE HELP FOR A LONG TIME
Police officers who witnessed bloody scene will require help for a long, long time
One of the officers closest to the scene of the bomb when it went off, remains under medical care and will be for some considerable time, the inquest in Omagh heard on Monday afternoon.
The coroner's court also heard it was feared that police officers, still suffering the ill effects of the bomb, could be put under further stress at the sight of photographic evidence shown at the inquest.
The hearing also heard that Tara McBurney, the constable still under medical care, had witnessed many horrific scenes including dead bodies and body parts lying on the street. She is still being treated for the ill effects of seeing a victim walking about with a piece of mangled metal protruding from her chest and hearing the hysterical screams of the injured, covered in blood.
"There is a medical report indicating that the evidence of Constable McBurney would be detrimental to her psychological health," said counsel to the coroner, Gemma Loughran.
A statement by Constable Tara McBurney was subsequently entered in her absence. The horrific scenes she had encountered was instead read out to the inquest.
Constable McBurney remained under medical care which would continue for a substantial period of time, the inquest heard.
She recalled how she was involved in moving people off High Street towards Market Street.
"People in general were very reluctant to move and I had to constantly push and shove them physically to keep them moving away from the courthouse," her statement said.
She said when the bomb went off a strong wind whipped past her taking her breath away for some five seconds, and debris flew past, clipping her.
"I opened my eyes and realised that a bomb had exploded and we had walked right into it," her testimony said.
PC McBurney looked down the street for a colleague and saw him standing surrounded by dead bodied and body parts. Everybody was screaming and hysterical and covered in blood.
A screaming girl pointed out a woman beside her. "I saw she had a piece of mangled and twisted metal about five inches long protruding from her chest."
The woman was later identified as one of the injured Wendy Edgar.
Other horrific scenes encountered by the Constable and the role she played in ferrying the injured to hospital were also relayed to the inquest.
On the conclusion of witness evidence, counsel for the Police Federation said that police officers were still suffering the effects of what they encountered on the day.
He said that an officer giving evidence had been shown photographs of bodies of the dead, wrapped in sheets on Market Street, while giving evidence had found it distressing.
He said that other officers may find the sight of the pictures distressing if they were shown them without warning in the course of their evidence. He said that some officers were still suffering ill effects and the worry was that the sight of these photographs "may well set them back".
He suggested that if possible reference should be made to the maps rather than the photographs.
One of the officers closest to the scene of the bomb when it went off, remains under medical care and will be for some considerable time, the inquest in Omagh heard on Monday afternoon.
The coroner's court also heard it was feared that police officers, still suffering the ill effects of the bomb, could be put under further stress at the sight of photographic evidence shown at the inquest.
The hearing also heard that Tara McBurney, the constable still under medical care, had witnessed many horrific scenes including dead bodies and body parts lying on the street. She is still being treated for the ill effects of seeing a victim walking about with a piece of mangled metal protruding from her chest and hearing the hysterical screams of the injured, covered in blood.
"There is a medical report indicating that the evidence of Constable McBurney would be detrimental to her psychological health," said counsel to the coroner, Gemma Loughran.
A statement by Constable Tara McBurney was subsequently entered in her absence. The horrific scenes she had encountered was instead read out to the inquest.
Constable McBurney remained under medical care which would continue for a substantial period of time, the inquest heard.
She recalled how she was involved in moving people off High Street towards Market Street.
"People in general were very reluctant to move and I had to constantly push and shove them physically to keep them moving away from the courthouse," her statement said.
She said when the bomb went off a strong wind whipped past her taking her breath away for some five seconds, and debris flew past, clipping her.
"I opened my eyes and realised that a bomb had exploded and we had walked right into it," her testimony said.
PC McBurney looked down the street for a colleague and saw him standing surrounded by dead bodied and body parts. Everybody was screaming and hysterical and covered in blood.
A screaming girl pointed out a woman beside her. "I saw she had a piece of mangled and twisted metal about five inches long protruding from her chest."
The woman was later identified as one of the injured Wendy Edgar.
Other horrific scenes encountered by the Constable and the role she played in ferrying the injured to hospital were also relayed to the inquest.
On the conclusion of witness evidence, counsel for the Police Federation said that police officers were still suffering the effects of what they encountered on the day.
He said that an officer giving evidence had been shown photographs of bodies of the dead, wrapped in sheets on Market Street, while giving evidence had found it distressing.
He said that other officers may find the sight of the pictures distressing if they were shown them without warning in the course of their evidence. He said that some officers were still suffering ill effects and the worry was that the sight of these photographs "may well set them back".
He suggested that if possible reference should be made to the maps rather than the photographs.
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/1446
Published Date: 14-Sep-00
Related Images
There have been no images archived for this article.