THE aunt of one of two teenagers killed as a result of a road traffic collision near her house in Florencecourt almost 10 years ago has told a fresh inquest into their deaths she is “not happy” with the way a statement she gave to police in 2009 has been recorded.

Debbie Whyte, 14 and Nathan Gault, 15, both pupils of Devenish College, were struck by a passing car as they walked along the Croaghrim Road on November, 27, 2008.

Nathan died at the scene of a head injury, while Debbie lost her fight for life and died of multiple injuries the following day at the Erne Hospital.

A third teenager, Wayne Manley, who was walking alongside them, was unhurt.

The first inquest into their deaths was held in March 2010, but Attorney General, John Larkin, subsequently ordered a second hearing.

After the first hearing, Debbie’s parents, Colin and Ann, said that they felt “justice will never be done” over the death of their beloved child.

On the second day of the fresh inquest, being heard before Coroner Suzanne Anderson at Omagh courthouse this week, Nathan’s aunt Ruth Cutler, the first person on the scene of the collision, was among the witnesses to give evidence.

She started by saying she was “not happy” with the police statement taken from her in November 2009, which had been read out at the hearing.

Mrs. Cutler claimed that the statement she had given was longer.

She further alleged that she felt “very, very uncomfortable” when it was being taken, adding that the officer kept on interrupting her and telling her that what she was saying was “irrelevant”.

In the evidence that she gave in person on Tuesday, she said that, on the night of the accident, she was doing the dishes in her house when she heard “screaming” from outside.

She initially thought that children were setting off fireworks as she saw flashing lights, but, when she went outside, she came upon the crash scene.

She said that Wayne Manley was standing on his mobile phone, while she saw Debbie Whyte lying face down on the ground.

Mrs. Cutler told the inquest that Wayne said to her that Nathan had ran off, so she turned her attention to try and assist Debbie.

She confirmed that she helped to give the teenager CPR along with another woman, Arlene McIntyre, while they waited for an ambulance to arrive.

“I never even thought about Nathan. I presumed he was OK,” she said.

It was only after Debbie had been taken to hospital that the “penny dropped” and Mrs. Cutler realised her nephew was missing.

She then joined in the frantic efforts to find Nathan, whom she had thought was frightened and hiding somewhere in the house.

“Once we couldn’t find Nathan, it was mayhem,” she said.

Admitting that she was unclear over the timespan, she recalled being in her kitchen when a policeman came in and informed Nathan’s mother, Joanne, that her son had been found and was dead.

“Everything after that is a total blank,” she said.

Mrs. Cutler movingly told the inquest that, if she had known Nathan had been out there, there was “no way” she could’ve done what she did for Debbie.

Meanwhile, the inquest also heard evidence from Anne McIntyre and her partner Foster Johnston, who also assisted Debbie Whyte while she was lying on the ground.

Ms. McIntyre, who said she was Debbie’s second cousin, helped give her CPR, while Mr. Johnston stayed on the phone to the 999 operator while the ambulance arrived. Counsel for the Whyte family, Plunkett Nugent, told the hearing that, on behalf of his clients, he wanted to publicly convey their “deep and unending gratitude” for all the trio’s efforts on that night.