Lockerbie Bombing Anniversary: Colin's Story

Over the course of this week we'll be taking a look at how the incidents of the 21st of December 1988 shaped the lives of people within Lockerbie, and how it continues to affect them today.

You can hear more about this In this documentary for Absolute Radio as we take a look at the legacy of that night 35 years on.

Lockerbie: What Happened

On the 21st of December, 1988, commercial plan Pan Am 103 was flying from London to New York when it exploded at over 30,000 feet.

The explosion killed all 259 people on the plane, many of whom were Americans heading home for Christmas, as well as 11 people on the ground in Lockerbie.

Former Libyan intelligence officer, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi is so far the only man convicted in relation to the bombing, after being found guilty of 270 counts of murder by a panel of three Scottish judges, sitting at a special court in the Hague in 2001.

He was sent to prison in Scotland, but was controversially granted compassionate release in 2009 after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, returning home to Libya where he died in 2012.

Colin Dorrance

Colin Dorrance was an 18-year-old police officer and lived in Lockerbie at the time of the attack.

On the night of the attack he was travelling from his parents to a Christmas party in the town.

It was on this journey that he seen an explosion far in the distance, prompting him to change his route.

He said: "I was delegated to jump into a police car with four others, we went up to Rosebank Crescent in the town.

"What we were met with was just surreal. There was a house ripped open on three sides, no walls left but the roof was still kind of suspended in mid-air, as was the bedroom.

"I think I had the experience then, I'd been to one or two fatal crashes, it wasn't completely new to me. You tell yourself your on duty, this is your job, your role to deal with. All you can do is just one little bit at a time and take it from there."

Colin would then spend the following months posted at Lockerbie, having been initially serving west of the region as an officer.

He worked 12 on, 12 off late shifts, with a day off in January to try and get some respite. Colin spent his day off watching Carlisle United play, however he's unsure how much good that day off had.

"They had a little roster in early January where we all got 24 hours break. That was my one break in the entire month to try and get some normality back. For an entire month I saw nothing but darkness visiting all these crash sites.

"It was probably more disruptive than it was worth probably, but from a mental health point of view it was just to have a break and get your world readjusted.

"I hadn't seen a television for nearly 2 weeks at that point, hadn't seen family or friends. That was our life for that month."

As time went on normality would soon return to Colin's life, but like many in the town, the impact of that night remains with Colin today.

"I think at the time, the conventional wisdom was get on with it, say nothing, move on and forget about it. I think the reality is for a lot of people that's not realistic.

"You just can't forget some of those images, moments and feelings of powerlessness.

"Had I had to go through it in my 30s or 40s when I may have been a father, or had a family and so on, I'm not sure how I would have dealt with that. But because I was young free and single then, that had it's advantages.

"You develop a philosophy that 'when things get bad, you've seen a time when it was worse for people' and you tend to draw on your experience, hopefully for the better.

"It was sort of get on with it at first. Nobody really talks about it, it's only in the years since.

"Someone told me about this little flight attendants cap badge that they found. The one little find had a profound affect on him because it made it real for him. When your actually in a field somewhere and you find something it puts a new dynamic on it. There's lots of accounts like that."

If you need any support on any of the issues we've raised throughout our coverage visit the Tim Parry and Johnathon Ball Foundation who can help provide comprehensive support to victims and survivors of terrorism.

You can also visit Victim Support