����ý

A former RUC officer traumatised by the death of a pensioner in a shootout is to receive £50,000 in damages, a High Court judge ruled.

Colin Keys was awarded the sum as part of a negligence case taken against the chief constable.

This related to a security operation in County Tyrone in November 1983.

Brigid Foster, 80, was fatally wounded by a police bullet during a shootout with post office raiders in Pomeroy.

Mr Keys told the court he had been "devastated" by the thought that he may have shot dead an elderly woman.

However, he was later informed that forensics had established that another officer fired the fatal round.

Finding that Mr Keys went on to suffer periods of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Mr Justice Shaw said: "I accept he is now to be regarded as vulnerable to psychological effects of trauma and that stress could re-trigger in him the Pomeroy incident."

The 59-year-old ex-policeman is expected to receive a further pay out for potential loss of earning capacity at a future hearing on special damages.

Mr Keys was in a separate unsuccessful group action taken by thousands of rank and file officers seeking compensation for how their trauma was treated during decades of terrorist violence in Northern Ireland.

He sued again individually, claiming that his exposure to the events in Pomeroy caused chronic suffering and ultimately his retirement on medical grounds.

The case was conceded on the basis that the defendant admitted RUC negligence in the conduct of the police operation at Pomeroy, resulting in a psychiatric injury of PTSD sustained by Mr Keys.

Separate claims that his authorities failed him over the alleged use of undercover police informants within paramilitary groups were denied and ultimately withdrawn from the action.

In a judgment dealing only with the level of damages to award, Mr Justice Shaw had to determine the former officer's complaint that his life has been marred.

Mr Keys was part of a police patrol shot at by two masked men who had targeted the post office, the court heard.

The RUC officers returned fire, but the raiders managed to escape.

During exchanges Mrs Foster, an innocent passer-by standing inside the post office, was struck and killed by a stray police bullet.

Mr Keys was placed on leave following the incident and later transferred to another station.

He later served as a close protection officer and within CID, but has not worked since being medically retired in April 2002.

Ruling on the extent to which the events at the post office contributed to the plaintiff's chronic mental health problems, Mr Justice Shaw found that he suffered from PTSD at a diagnostic level for a period of two years.

The judge also held that the condition had "fluctuated" since then, with further episodes partially linked to Mr Keys' "obsession" with the protracted litigation.

He confirmed: "While allowing for the fact that matters out with the Pomeroy incident contributed to his condition, I consider he should receive general damages of £ 50,000."

Following the judgment, Mr Keys' solicitor, Kevin Winters, said: "This case sets an important precedent for the assessment of damages arising out of conflict-related incidents."