Omagh student whose A-Level results arrived on day of funeral 'cruelly denied her future'

FORMER Omagh High School student Debra-Anne Cartwright, 20, was a person 'full of life and energy', cruelly denied the future the lay ahead for her.

At this morning's (Thursday) hearing of the Omagh Bombing Inquiry, Solicitor John Rafferty, read a statement about Debra-Anne on behalf of the Cartwright family.

She was working in a beauty salon in Omagh of the day of the bombing and had been evacuated from the premises and walked down Market Street where the bomb detonated.

Awaiting her A Level results, she had hoped to study textile design at Manchester University.

Mr Rafferty told the sitting that "her results which arrived on the day of her funeral confirmed that she had been successful."

He said that at her funeral she was described as being "full of life and energy".

At the conclusion of the tribute, Inquiry chairman Rt Hon Lord Turnbull said Debra-Anne's case "further compounds the cruel denial of a future".

He said that of the hearings so far, many were of young people or children whose lives were taken from them "before they could experience the joys and tribulations of a full and independent life".

"In Debra-Anne's case, it further compounds the cruel denial of a future that on her funeral day she received confirmation of her exam results which would have taken her to university," he said.