‘I felt very uneasy in Hamilton’s company’

OTHER documents released yesterday tell of what happened in the immediate aftermath of the massacre.

One woman had been dropping off two children at the nursery school and had a mobile phone which she lent to a policeman at the scene.

But when the officer used it, he inadvertently hit a key which meant the phone dialled the woman's home answering machine. And this recorded the next few minutes' conversation between officers at the scene. Part of the conversation went:

Male voice: "How many's dead?"

Male voice: "Eh, several, over a dozen it's Tommy Hamilton. He's a f****n' nutter."

Male voice: "Where does he live?"

Male voice: "Stirling."

Male voice: "What did he use?"

Male voice: "Eh, a gun."

Male voice: "Shotgun?"

Male voice: "Eh, no, a wee gun."

Then there are sounds of the mobile telephone being dialled.

Male voice: "Aye, oh aye, there's about a dozen dead."

The documents also include a statement from a police officer married to a typist at Dunblane police office. The couple's three children attended the school and the unnamed officer described how he had just returned home after dropping the youngest child off at the nursery when his wife called from the police station to say there had been a shooting.

The officer told how he drove back to the school where he learnt of the massacre.

In a panic, he immediately began checking the safety of his own children and went through the school looking for them.

He ran into the assembly hall where he saw dead and injured children and murdered teacher Gwen Mayor. He later established his children were safe and phoned his wife.

"I remember making a mental note of how many children I had seen that appeared dead. I believe this was 12 at this time," said the officer. He went on to describe how he saw Hamilton's body lying face up in a pool of blood in the gym, dead with a head injury.

The officer recognised Hamilton, whom he had known years beforehand.

Recalling the time when he had known him, he said: "I felt very uneasy in Hamilton's company, his whole demeanour and appearance just had an unnerving effect."