THE policeman who discovered the bodies of the family of RUC constable Mr John Torney described the scene at Belfast Crown Court yesterday.
Mr Torney denies murdering his wife Linda (33) and children Emma (10) and John jr (13), claiming the teenager had gone berserk with his police issue Ruger revolver during a row over a family pet at their home at Lomond Heights, Cookstown.
The first officer on the scene, a full time reservist, and close family friend of the Torneys' talked about the "disturbing and traumatic events" which he had found "very upsetting".
Mr Torney also claimed the schoolboy, after shooting his mother and sister, then wrote two suicide notes before turning the gun on himself.
The officer who found their bodies said he "glanced" at the notes before he and others decided to search the Torney home. "I went to the porch and stopped there and shouted into the house. I shouted for John jr. There was no reply.
I then shouted Emma's name and there was no reply and I shouted for Linda and again there was no reply," he added.
The constable said he first found Emma lying dead in her bed, a single gunshot wound to her head, before going to the master bedroom.
"I looked in and I observed Linda Torney lying on the bed. At that stage I stood just looking in. I stood looking and I could hear a moan or a groan.
"I went up to the side of the bed and knelt and held Linda by the hand and spoke to her.
"But I think I was there only for a matter of seconds, but there was no response," he described.
He added that he and another RUC man found John jr dead in his bedroom, his father's Ruger revolver by his side.
Under cross examination from Mr Torney's lawyer Mr Andrew Donaldson QC, the patrolman agreed his experience had been "disturbing and traumatic very upsetting".
He admitted that he and Mr Torney were "good friends" and that he found him to be a "kind and quiet sort of man not of a violent disposition".
But he said he was aware of troubles within the Torney family and that the children often fought and that there were "difficulties between Linda and John".
Another close colleague of Mr Torney who served with him in Pomeroy and Coalisland told the court that the family had been forced to move because of terrorist threats.
He said both stations were in dangerous areas and that it was "traumatic for any family to move lock, stock and barrel in such circumstances".
The officer said that living under such conditions meant you got to know police colleagues well and went on to describe Mr Torney as "always a good and loyal colleague".