Omagh fire father was treated for depression

A father who killed himself and six other family members when he set fire to their home was treated for depression two months before the fatal blaze, a coroner's court heard today.

A doctor outlined Arthur McElhill's state of mind prior to the incident as firefighters described for the first time the horrific scenes that met them inside the gutted terraced house in Omagh, Co Tyrone in the wake of the inferno.

The 36-year-old convicted sex offender, who had a history of suicide attempts, torched the property using petrol and white spirits after his partner Lorraine McGovern apparently threatened to leave him.

The couple and their five children all died in the fire in November 2007.

Dr Michelle Mellotte told the second day of the inquest into the seven deaths that she had prescribed Mr McElhill with anti-depressants nine weeks before the incident.

The GP also confirmed to coroner Suzanne Anderson that he had tried to take his life before - notably in 1988 when he drove a car into a wall.

"He was really down and depressed," the doctor said of his mental condition in September 2007.

However, the medic said she did not believe that he was suicidal at that stage.

She said she met him in the street a week later and he appeared in good form.

Relatives from both the extended McElhill and McGovern families listened to the doctor's evidence from opposite sides of the court room.

Later a number appeared visibly distressed as firefighters who tried in vain the save the family recounted the moments they discovered the seven charred bodied in the upstairs rooms.

Crew commander David Canning said nothing in his career could have prepared him for the graphic scenes that greeted him.

"I haven't seen anything like it in my 18 years as a firefighter," he noted in a written statement read to the court.

The oldest of the family's five children was only 13. Caroline, who made a frantic 999 call as the flames took hold, died along with her siblings Sean, seven, four-year-old Bellina, one-year-old Clodagh and 10-month-old baby James.

Fire service area commander Eoin Doyle revealed that at the height of the blaze the temperature inside the house had reached at least 700C – hot enough to melt glass light bulbs.

Wearing protective breathing apparatus, firefighters Adrian Clarke and Thomas Logue were the first to gain entry to the property.

They both told the court how they fought back the flames with high-powered hoses in a bid to reach the upstairs rooms where they believed the family was.

The stairs gave way on their first attempt so they had to use a ladder to reach the landing.

Mr Logue, who sustained burn wounds on his arm, eventually managed to get upstairs but by that stage the fire was so intense the building was in danger of collapsing in on itself.

“I heard my colleague shout ’get out, the roof’s coming in’,” the officer recalled.

“I could hear the roof rumbling.”

The officers retreated outside but within minutes made another bid to reach the bedrooms.

Mr Logue, who said the flames were so hot they appeared white, told the coroner he feared there would be no survivors.

“At that stage I thought to myself nobody could be alive up here,” he said.

The officer began the search for bodies by feeling across a double bed in the main bedroom.

He said it struck him as unusual that the sheets appeared to be smooth – as if the bed had not been slept in.

When the remains were eventually located, Mr McElhill and Ms McGovern were lying on the floor of the smallest bedroom with one of their children, three other children were in another room and the fifth child was in a cot in a third bedroom.

Their bodies were so badly charred that dental exams and DNA checks had to be used to identify them.

Uel Gallagher, who arrived in a back-up fire crew, said every time they thought they had got the blaze under control it flared up again.

Recalling seeing children’s toys and bicycles in the garden, he also expressed his surprise at how quickly the fire had seemingly taken hold.

“I couldn’t believe how the house had got into such a state in such a short time,” he told the packed courtroom.

During yesterday’s hearing, relatives wept as they listened to Caroline McGovern’s harrowing call to the emergency services The schoolgirl screamed “Help me” and “I’m burning ... run” as she gasped for breath during the six minute call.

In the wake of the fire it had been reported that the dead teenager was later found with the phone in one hand and rosary beads in the other.

Today a police officer clarified that the item recovered was not in fact a set of rosary beads.

The same officer revealed that traces of petrol had been found in the boot of the family’s Nissan car – even though it was a diesel powered vehicle.

Earlier, Sean Doherty, the McElhill family’s lawyer, had questioned successive witnesses whether there was evidence anyone had gained entry to the house from the back door. The key on the inside of the door would have been sitting partially out of the lock if that was the case, he added.

Fire officer Clarke, who was the first to open the door after the fire, said he was adamant the key was fully in the lock.

The coroner explained to the court the McElhill family believed another person could have entered the house and lit the fire.

She also noted that one eyewitness – Lee Anne Duffy – was “98% sure” she had seen Mr McElhill outside the house four minutes before the fire started.

The inquest was due to end tomorrow after hearing the testimony of 35 witnesses.

However, the coroner today announced that a need to clarify a number of “evidential issues” meant that not all those individuals could appear as scheduled – among them the lead police inspector investigating the fire and relatives from both families.

Stressing her intention to see the inquest through to completion as soon as was practical, she adjourned proceedings to sit again on December 7.

“It’s important there’s no undue delay in completing the inquest now that it’s started,” the coroner added.

The development comes after legal representatives from the McElhill family yesterday made an application to the court. Details of the legal move were not made public.