Former Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath was today accused of "insulting" and "abusing" the barrister representing many of the families of the Bloody Sunday victims so that he could avoid answering crucial questions.
Mr Michael Lavery QC made the complaint as he began his third day of heated cross-examination of Sir Edward (86) at the Bloody Sunday Inquiry, sitting in central London.
Mr Lavery alleged that Sir Edward has "insulted" him several times without rebuke from the Government-appointed tribunal.
He told the inquiry: "The difficulty that has now arisen as I see it, is that Sir Edward, not surprisingly, especially emboldened by the latitude he has been given, feels that when I ask him a question all he has to do is roll his eyes, look at the tribunal, offer an insult to me and refuse to answer the question."
He continued: "I have not at any stage asked the tribunal to order him to answer the questions that thus possibly to bring him into contempt because I do not think that is a productive way of dealing with the matter for anyone concerned."
The inquiry is investigating the circumstances surrounding the killing of 13 Catholic men on a Derry civil rights march by British paratroopers on the January 30th, 1972, while Sir Edward was Prime Minister.
His testimony has been littered with heated and prickly exchanges with Mr Lavery that have forced Lord Saville, the inquiry chairman, to intervene.
Sir Edward has called Mr Lavery "offensive" and "obscene" and refused to answer several of his questions as "hypothetical and a waste of time".
Mr David Mackie QC, representing Sir Edward, said it was Mr Lavery's "wholly inappropriate" questioning which had triggered tensions.
Instead of focusing on the political decision-making in the run-up to Bloody Sunday, he had questioned Sir Edward about Irish history and made references to Lloyd George and Oliver Cromwell.
Lord Saville asked Mr Lavery to ask more focused and helpful questions in the hope that more progress can be made.
PA