A MAN has told the Ballymurphy inquest how he has had "great difficulty" dealing with the memories of what happened in 1971.
Tommy Morgan, who is now 62, was 15-years-old on August 9, 1971, when trouble broke out in the west Belfast estate.
As a terrified teenager, he witnessed the fatal shootings of four people while under heavy fire.
A total of 10 people were killed during three days of gunfire in the area during disturbances following the introduction of internment.
Mr Morgan told the court that he believed the shooting came from soldiers based at the Henry Taggart Memorial Hall, because of the direction from which people near him were shot.
However, a barrister for the Ministry of Defence said it was the British Army's view that their soldiers had come under fire from the Manse area.
Mr Morgan did not see any soldiers at the base shooting in his direction.
The 62-year-old said there was heavy shooting and described how lumps of stone and plaster came out of the gate pillars as bullets struck them.
"It got really unbelievably intense," he told the court.
"It was like a storm. The bullets were non-stop."
Mr Morgan saw a number of people fatally shot, including Noel Phillips, Danny Teggart, and Joseph Murphy.
He also saw a friend called Davy Callaghan shot close to him.
He also heard Joan Connolly, the only woman shot, describing her "crying, sobbing, frightened, terrified voice".
Mr Morgan said the mother-of-eight, shouted: "Someone help me please, I'm blind, I'm shot in the face, I can't see."
Mr Morgan said he was "glad I didn't see her", adding the "voice is still with me".
Meanwhile, the court also heard evidence from Margaret Elmore, who was 27 in 1971 and lived with her family in a house beside the Manse site.
She told how gunfire broke out, with bullets hitting her home.
She told the court how she saw Joan Connolly falling down and then saying: "Mister, I can't see".
