OFFICER RECOUNTS DIRECTING PEOPLE INTO PATH OF BOMB
Officer recounts directing people into the path of bomb
By ROSETTA DONNELLY
A police officer who had left training school twelve weeks earlier, told the second week of the Omagh Inquests how he tried to clear the town prior to the bomb.
Constable Gary McClatchey said that he and his colleagues were on mobile patrol when they received the call from their base that there was a bombscare in the town centre. He said the code word had been the same as the one used for the Banbridge some weeks earlier so they went quickly into the town.
He said they split up and went on foot in the direction of the courthouse. He said from about Watterson's shop up, they began evacuating shoppers and sending them towards Market Street.
The police officer said cars were still coming into the town via Georges Street, so he went there and began directing traffic away. He also told shoppers and business proprietors to evacuate.
He said he could also see people walking out from Foundry Lane and he went there and directed them back down towards the carpark again.
Just at that he heard a 'dull thud' and saw a plume of smoke which he knew was from the Market Street area the place to where he had just directed shoppers.
The young officer said he made his way immediately towards the bomb and the first injured he came across was a boy 'with ginger hair' who appeared to be dead.
He also saw a burning engine block and he ran to help two policemen who were trying to lift the engine from the girl who was trapped underneath. He said the girl had long hair and he learned that she was Pauline Greene.
"I turned and I saw people sitting...there were so many. I passed a girl who was sitting upright but her leg was very badly injured. She was alive at that point".
Constable McClatchey said he went to help another girl who he later learned was Deborah Cartwright. "At that time she was alive but unconscious. With the help of another officer, we freed her and I tried to open her airways. A girl also helped me. I made this person as comfortable as I could by removing glass from underneath her. She had a very weak pulse. Her injuries appeared very serious" he added
He said himself and some others put her on a door and placed her in a car which was taken by a male nurse to the Tyrone County Hospital.
Constable McClatchey said he saw bodies outside a shop entrance outside kells. "There appeared to be about four or five and they were motionless. Their injuries were horrific" he said.
He also said he saw a crater the ground in which several bodies lay. He could not recognise any of them.
I had been told there was a baby somewhere and I began looking. Sgt McCready handed me things taken from bodies and later that night I gave them to an Inspector at the temporary morgue.
The officer said he set up a cordon outside Scarffe's Entry and another at Nicholl & Shiels and did not allow anyone other than police and those helping inside the cordoned off area. In response to questioning from Coroner, John Leckey, about why he cleared the courthouse area when the bomb was supposed to be in the town centre, the constable said "I interpreted the information I received as being the town centre, ie courthouse, High Street, Bridge Street areas I believed the immediate threat was in that area".
Coroner: "Are you surprised to learn that amongst Omagh people the town centre means Market Street?"
Cons "I had only been in Omagh twelve weeks, That is where I believed the town centre was".
The constable was then asked by a solicitor for one of the families to name the people whose items were retrieved from the bomb site and which he later handed to a senior officer at the morgue. He said the items belonged to C Bradley, S Carlin, Cathal McLaughlin, Anne McCrea, Avril Monaghan, Maura Monaghan, Aiobhann..., Sharon Haughey, Julie Hughes. Alan Radford and A O Gibson.
Constable James Morrell was the driver of the police car and who helped Cons McClatchey attempt to clear the area.
He said he and other officers had been at a house where a reported burglary had taken place and they were waiting for the keyholder to come home when the notification came that there was a bombscare at Omagh courthouse.
He said the journey did not take long into town and when they arrived at Market Street junction with Dublin road. He told officers to seal off Market Street and and Scarffe's Entry to prevent anyone entering the town.
He then went to the Georges Street area which he sealed off with the police car. He then began evacuating Georges Street. At this stage another police vehicle arrived. "I got a message and I heard police shouting 'casualties and screaming".
I went down to Market Street and I was met with lots of walking casualties. I saw injured and bodies littering the street. I ran back to the car. I found a young boy lying on his back on the road. He said "I Spanish, I Spanish".
The constable said the boy had a puncture wound and he applied a field dressing on his stomach and told someone to stay with him until he sorted traffic out".
As the officer walked further into the bomb scene he was saw another woman sitting in the middle of the wreckage. "She was bleeding from facial injuries and she had severe injuries to the knee. I asked her her name but she did not answer".
Constable Morrell said he covered her wound and applied pressure. He stopped people and asked them to look after her and keep putting pressure on the wound.
The officer said there were no further dressings and he ran to Boots where he managed to secure nappies and anything that would act as a dressing.
Back at the scene, the officer said he found two women in McElroy's shoe shop who were in a deep state of shock. "I then worked my way through Market Street and found no more casualties only deceased".
Coroner: "Were the deceased lying in the street ?" Cons: "Yes"
The Coroner asked were they all adults or were there children amongst the dead to which the officer replied that he felt there were no children on the street.
The constable said he then helped bring some of the bodies to the Supervalu carpark entrance.
He then went on to stay at the cordon where he remained until later that night.
Coroner, John Leckey asked him why he believed the courthouse area was the place where the bomb was. "From the information I was given to me the focal point for the bomb was the courthouse and the area of High Street, Bridge Street.
By ROSETTA DONNELLY
A police officer who had left training school twelve weeks earlier, told the second week of the Omagh Inquests how he tried to clear the town prior to the bomb.
Constable Gary McClatchey said that he and his colleagues were on mobile patrol when they received the call from their base that there was a bombscare in the town centre. He said the code word had been the same as the one used for the Banbridge some weeks earlier so they went quickly into the town.
He said they split up and went on foot in the direction of the courthouse. He said from about Watterson's shop up, they began evacuating shoppers and sending them towards Market Street.
The police officer said cars were still coming into the town via Georges Street, so he went there and began directing traffic away. He also told shoppers and business proprietors to evacuate.
He said he could also see people walking out from Foundry Lane and he went there and directed them back down towards the carpark again.
Just at that he heard a 'dull thud' and saw a plume of smoke which he knew was from the Market Street area the place to where he had just directed shoppers.
The young officer said he made his way immediately towards the bomb and the first injured he came across was a boy 'with ginger hair' who appeared to be dead.
He also saw a burning engine block and he ran to help two policemen who were trying to lift the engine from the girl who was trapped underneath. He said the girl had long hair and he learned that she was Pauline Greene.
"I turned and I saw people sitting...there were so many. I passed a girl who was sitting upright but her leg was very badly injured. She was alive at that point".
Constable McClatchey said he went to help another girl who he later learned was Deborah Cartwright. "At that time she was alive but unconscious. With the help of another officer, we freed her and I tried to open her airways. A girl also helped me. I made this person as comfortable as I could by removing glass from underneath her. She had a very weak pulse. Her injuries appeared very serious" he added
He said himself and some others put her on a door and placed her in a car which was taken by a male nurse to the Tyrone County Hospital.
Constable McClatchey said he saw bodies outside a shop entrance outside kells. "There appeared to be about four or five and they were motionless. Their injuries were horrific" he said.
He also said he saw a crater the ground in which several bodies lay. He could not recognise any of them.
I had been told there was a baby somewhere and I began looking. Sgt McCready handed me things taken from bodies and later that night I gave them to an Inspector at the temporary morgue.
The officer said he set up a cordon outside Scarffe's Entry and another at Nicholl & Shiels and did not allow anyone other than police and those helping inside the cordoned off area. In response to questioning from Coroner, John Leckey, about why he cleared the courthouse area when the bomb was supposed to be in the town centre, the constable said "I interpreted the information I received as being the town centre, ie courthouse, High Street, Bridge Street areas I believed the immediate threat was in that area".
Coroner: "Are you surprised to learn that amongst Omagh people the town centre means Market Street?"
Cons "I had only been in Omagh twelve weeks, That is where I believed the town centre was".
The constable was then asked by a solicitor for one of the families to name the people whose items were retrieved from the bomb site and which he later handed to a senior officer at the morgue. He said the items belonged to C Bradley, S Carlin, Cathal McLaughlin, Anne McCrea, Avril Monaghan, Maura Monaghan, Aiobhann..., Sharon Haughey, Julie Hughes. Alan Radford and A O Gibson.
Constable James Morrell was the driver of the police car and who helped Cons McClatchey attempt to clear the area.
He said he and other officers had been at a house where a reported burglary had taken place and they were waiting for the keyholder to come home when the notification came that there was a bombscare at Omagh courthouse.
He said the journey did not take long into town and when they arrived at Market Street junction with Dublin road. He told officers to seal off Market Street and and Scarffe's Entry to prevent anyone entering the town.
He then went to the Georges Street area which he sealed off with the police car. He then began evacuating Georges Street. At this stage another police vehicle arrived. "I got a message and I heard police shouting 'casualties and screaming".
I went down to Market Street and I was met with lots of walking casualties. I saw injured and bodies littering the street. I ran back to the car. I found a young boy lying on his back on the road. He said "I Spanish, I Spanish".
The constable said the boy had a puncture wound and he applied a field dressing on his stomach and told someone to stay with him until he sorted traffic out".
As the officer walked further into the bomb scene he was saw another woman sitting in the middle of the wreckage. "She was bleeding from facial injuries and she had severe injuries to the knee. I asked her her name but she did not answer".
Constable Morrell said he covered her wound and applied pressure. He stopped people and asked them to look after her and keep putting pressure on the wound.
The officer said there were no further dressings and he ran to Boots where he managed to secure nappies and anything that would act as a dressing.
Back at the scene, the officer said he found two women in McElroy's shoe shop who were in a deep state of shock. "I then worked my way through Market Street and found no more casualties only deceased".
Coroner: "Were the deceased lying in the street ?" Cons: "Yes"
The Coroner asked were they all adults or were there children amongst the dead to which the officer replied that he felt there were no children on the street.
The constable said he then helped bring some of the bodies to the Supervalu carpark entrance.
He then went on to stay at the cordon where he remained until later that night.
Coroner, John Leckey asked him why he believed the courthouse area was the place where the bomb was. "From the information I was given to me the focal point for the bomb was the courthouse and the area of High Street, Bridge Street.
Further Information
Publisher: ULSTER HERALD
Ref: UH/1449
Published Date: 14-Sep-00
Related Images
