Omagh father contemplated suicide

Twenty-nine people were killed in the Omagh bombing

The father of Omagh victim Lorraine Wilson has spoken in the High Court about how he had comtemplated suicide after her death.

Godfrey Wilson fought back tears as he gave evidence.

"I drove to a local country road and drove like a lunatic hoping a tractor would come out in front of me," he said.

Five men are being sued by a number of Omagh families over the August 1998 bombing which claimed 29 lives.

Mr Wilson spoke of seeing his daughter's body in a temporary morgue set up in the aftermath of the bomb.

"She had head injuries. Her right eye was missing and (there was) a tear on the other eye. I took out a tissue and soaked it up and put it in my breast pocket.

"I still have it, that's the very little I have left of her," he said.

Mr Wilson also told the court how his family were so overwhelmed with grief that three of them thought about taking their own lives.

I cried until I had ulcers in my eyes Godfrey Wilson

Before the bombing the court heard how he worked long hours to provide for his family, but afterwards the entire family struggled to cope with the weight of their grief.

"I must have cried for three months. Sleeping was terrible. I couldn't get the morgue out my head," Mr Wilson said.

Questioned by Brett Lockhart QC, for the families seeking justice from Michael McKevitt, Liam Campbell, Seamus McKenna, Colm Murphy and Seamus Daly, Mr Wilson said it was hard to remember the good times before the bomb.

"I can't see Lorraine's smiling face because it hurts me that I will never see it again," he said.