A sharp legal wrangle is imminent at the Omagh bombing inquests hearing, as lawyers for the RUC will attempt next week to have tight restraints imposed on the cross-examination of police witnesses. It now appears that both the Chief Constable and the Police Federation will challenge the style and the scope of questioning of policemen by counsel representing the next of kin of some bomb victims.
Yesterday, Mr Stephen Ritchie began an application to the coroner on behalf of the Chief Constable seeking a ruling on the precise scope of the inquest.
This move was plainly prompted by other lawyers' attempts this week, in questioning police witnesses who handled the initial alert, to probe deeply into RUC practice and procedure on bomb warnings. Both Mr Barry Fox, solicitor, and Mr Michael Mansfield QC, have raised questions which delve into RUC policy and training on bomb warnings, the role and usage of code words, and other detailed aspects of the police response to the Omagh bomb warning.
Mr Ritchie suggested that, on one view, part of the approach they were taking could be seen as impugning the conduct of officers involved in the operation. He has made clear that he will argue that the main issue in the inquests is the manner in which the various deceased lost their lives.
Yesterday the coroner, Mr Leckey, quickly announced that he would not make any retrospective ruling on questions that have already been asked at the inquest, and it was agreed that Mr Ritchie's application should be temporarily deferred. But the issue is expected to arise again early next week when more officers who handled the bomb warnings, the onward transmission of them, and the police response on the ground in Omagh are to take the stand.
Meanwhile, the most dramatic event of the hearing yesterday was the tape recording replay of the actual RUC radio communications traffic in Omagh in the 20 minutes before the devastating explosion. A transcript of the messages exchanged between the RUC control room and the policemen who were attempting to clear the shops and streets was displayed simultaneously on screens in the inquest hall, and this indicated the time - to the nearest second - at which each message was sent or received.
At the outset a "Constable Millar" (actually Sgt Martin Millar) is heard relaying the warning to a Constable Doherty on the street somewhere in central Omagh. Constable Doherty acknowledges at 14.36.27: "Roger, I take it we're going to start evacuating now".
Constable Millar: "Aye. Roger. You may start evacuating from roughly Bridge Street down the way, it's given for about 150 yards from the courthouse".
Constable Doherty: "Roger. Is there any time? Over".
Constable Millar: "Aye, roger, that's the problem, you only have about 15 minutes. Over".
Numerous "tasking messages" follow, with various units reporting in to Control or being assigned locations.
At 14.45.32, a Constable Stewart requests: "Could you scrape up another mobile (unit), we could do with one at John Street?"
At 14.48.52 Control inquires if the premises "up there" are cleared, and Constable Stewart replies: "Clearing them as quick as we can but we'll do another quick run through once we're happy that we have most of them out".
At 14.51.13 Constable Stewart inquires: "If there's any more additional resources coming here, we need police at the back of the Royal Arms. Over".
At 14.53.08 a Sgt Marshall tells another unit: "You need to detail somebody to check all the vehicles from your point up to the Courthouse".
At 14.56.21 Sgt Marshall asks for a mobile support unit (MSU) to be sent to Sally O'Brien's pub: "We've got a very large crowd here who don't want to play".
At 14.58.10 the sergeant reports having some crowd control problems at the junction of High Street/Bridge Street. At 15.00.19 he reports that he is preparing to compile a list of the cars at the top of High Street adjacent to the Courthouse and suggests that they can start checking (the registered owners).
At 15.02.13 Constable Stewart reports: "We've just got told that there's somebody still in a flat above the Abbey National and (inaudible) to get them out".
The transcript announces: "There is a sound of an explosion at 15.04.20". It has been difficult, however, to distinguish any distinct detonation from the loud bursts of static on the tape.
Seven seconds later, Constable Stewart's voice, full of excitement and alarm, comes over the radio, partly inaudible but one phrase is clear: ". . .this has exploded. . .". Almost simultaneously a Sgt. Thompson calls in: "Oscar, need assistance to the bottom of the town. . ."
The very intense radio message traffic indicated that a determined police effort was being carried out, with the resources available, to clear the central Omagh area. Both Mr Stanley McCombe and Mr Michael Gallagher, who lost relatives in the bombing, said afterwards that it appeared from the tapes that RUC had done their level best.
While the tapes provided yet another direct and dramatic evocation of the way events unfolded on the day, probably the most poignant images seen yesterday were the still photographs of clusters of bodies, wrapped in sheets and arranged in rows in a narrow alleyway or entry off Market Street in Omagh.
They had been placed there, in a makeshift holding area, while all available emergency vehicles gave priority to rushing the hundreds of wounded to hospital.