Lawyers 'forced Omagh victim to strip at interview'

A minister has promised to investigate a complaint from a victim of the 1998 Omagh bomb that compensation officials humiliated and degraded her by forcing her to strip to her underwear.

Rosemary Ingram, who is 53, said she was required to remove her clothing so a panel of six lawyers, including three men, could examine the extensive scarring she suffered in the bombing.

Mrs Ingram added: "One of them even pulled at my underwear to see the extent of the scars. They said they wanted to look at how the scars were healing, but that is not the point." The details of her examination have proved disturbing to many, in themselves and because of the enduring emotional damage caused by the Omagh attack, which killed 29 people and injured 200 more.

A Northern Ireland Office spokeswoman said Des Browne, the minister who handles victim issues, was looking into the case, adding: "This is a sensitive and painful issue for all concerned and the greatest possible care is taken in assessing compensation."

Another complaint came from Kevin Skelton. The facial scars of his 16-year-old daughter, Jane, were examined by lawyers. He said one commented to another "that it would be far worse if both sides of her face had been scarred". Mr Skelton added: "She cried when she came home. She was absolutely gutted. It is bad enough having a scar on your face, a young girl of her age, without somebody making sarcastic remarks like that. I was devastated."

Mrs Ingram's brother Stanley McCombe, who lost his wife in the explosion, said his sister said the examination "was so degrading. She had to stand there in her underwear and let these people have a cheap view." Mrs Ingram had shrapnel injuries to her legs, buttock, head and right shoulder.

Sir Kenneth Bloomfield, who chaired a review of criminal injuries compensation and is a former victims commissioner, said: "If a valid medical practitioner is able to produce convincing evidence that the injuries are of a certain kind, it is difficult to see why less qualified people should question that. It is particularly sensitive for women to [be] subjected to this kind of examination."

* A memorial to eight soldiers killed in an IRA bombing 14 years ago was damaged by arsonists, who also scattered wreaths left at the site on the Ballygawley to Omagh road.