The RUC chief in charge of Omagh today broke down in the witness box as he defended the conduct of his officers in the minutes leading up to the bombing more than two years ago. Superintendent William Baxter was briefly overcome as he told the ninth day of the inquest into the atrocity that the only people who could have made a difference on the day were the bombers and their accomplices who issued confused warnings about where the bomb was located.
A British Army doctor, Captain Samuel Potter, told the Omagh inquest how he found the body of 34-year-old Avril Monaghan, who was eight months pregnant with twin girls, on the street outside a drapery shop, close to the seat of explosion. The doctor recounted how when Mrs Monaghan's body was turned over he found her 18-month-old daughter, Maura, dead underneath her mother. Dr Potter said that the horrific discovery caused a male medic who was assisting him, to collapse. The inquest also heard how the body of Mrs Monaghan's 65-year-old mother, Mary Grimes, another of the 29 fatalities, was found inside the drapery store.
Earlier, the court heard how a father and son, who died in the bombing, were last seen alive leaving a fruit and vegetable shop, just before the 500-pound device exploded. The shop owner recalled how customers including 65-year-old Fred White and his son Bryan, who was 27, and who both died in the explosion, kept coming into the store despite the bomb scare which preceded the blast. The shop owner, Mary Jane Frew, said that there was no panic amongst the customers during the bomb scare. She said that people thought the bomb was at the top end of the town.
A pathologist told the inquest that Mr White and his son, were among the closest of the victims to the seat of the blast. He said that they both sustained multiple injuries and would have died instantly.
