Forensic tests that showed some of the civilians killed on Bloody Sunday had handled weapons may have been unreliable, the Saville Inquiry heard today.
A police officer who carried out swab tests on some of the Bloody Sunday victims said in a written statement that it was possible results of some tests may have been cross-contaminated.
Mr John Montgomery, a crime scene officer, appeared behind screens at the Saville Inquiry in Derry today and described scenes of "pandemonium" in the mortuary of Altnagelvin Hospital on the evening of January 30th, 1972.
Mr Montgomery explained how he and a colleague, Mr Hugh McCormac, were tasked with examining the bodies and clothing of the 13 civilian civil rights marchers who had died that day.
"I recall an allegation that soldiers touching the hands of the bodies would have contaminated them. I agree that there is always a risk of such contamination, particularly when some of the bodies were brought to the mortuary in the back of a Pig [armoured personnel carrier] which would be covered in firearm residues," he said.
"The possibility of contamination can never be ruled out, but all I can say is that I followed the procedures in place at the time. I did everything I could, given the level of knowledge in 1972, to avoid contamination".
PA