Orangeman's car hit crowd '˜like skittles', says witness
John Alexander Aughey (63), from Brae Hill Park, Belfast, denies six charges, including causing grievous bodily injury to 16-year-old Phoebe Clawson on July 13.
The first person to be struck by the car, Roisin McGlone, told Belfast Crown Court that she “had a fear” it could have turned into a similar incident to what happened to two Army corporals who were abducted and killed by the IRA in March 1998.
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Hide AdMrs McGlone, an independent member of the policing board, told the jury she saw that the driver of a red Nissan had a “red and blue embroidery on his shirt” and believed he was either a bandsman or a member of the Orange Order.
“This was a very volatile situation. My immediate thought was for the driver. I noticed one of the crowd move slightly forward towards the right side of the car. I moved very quickly and put my hands up.’’
Asked by prosecution counsel Neil Connor QC, the mediation worker said she shouted at the crowds: “Don’t do this. Move back.”
She said she then noticed a “River Rock plastic water bottle being thrown from the back of the crowd and flying through the air”.
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Hide Ad“I noticed a very young boy, about 15, kick the driver’s wheel. And that’s when I moved forward and said: ‘Right. Time to move in here’.
“I moved right in front of the people and put my hands out. At this point I was focused on the crowd, not the car. Then I just got him from behind.
“I was the first person that the car hit. It came right behind me and took me off my feet and I banged down on the ground. Two members of the crowd grabbed me underneath my arms.
“I looked to my left and I just saw the car going down the road like skittles.”
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Hide AdUnder cross examination, Mrs McGlone was asked if she had concerns for the driver. “As a human being, of course it did occur to me. My concern was that he was exposed because of what he was wearing.’’
She confirmed she had had a “deep feeling of fear’’recalling the murders of corporals Derek Wood and David Howes,