Paramedics attacked while treating Roma

Three-year-old Roma McAleese was knocked down near her home at Ashdale Park, Coleraine, last year.

When paramedic Heather Moore arrived with a colleague she was punched in the back by a woman who claimed she had not arrived soon enough, she told the inquest held in Coleraine last Tuesday morning.

"She was punching for all she was worth," she said.

The injured youngster was taken into the ambulance but died in hospital.

Coroner John Leckey said: "What happened to you and your colleague (Sharon Robinson) was totally unwarranted, quite disgraceful.

"It is unacceptable that the emergency services seem to be attacked almost routinely. Instead of expressing gratitude for your arrival this physical assault happened."

Police told Mr Leckey that a file on the attack has been sent to the public prosecution service.

The driver of the Volkswagen Golf involved in the March 2009 accident, Nicola Smyth, was left traumatised, the inquest heard. She had been visiting a neighbour of the McAleese’s.

Ms Smyth did not give evidence in court as she was excused on medical grounds from attending. She has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

However, a police sergeant said that neither alcohol nor excess speed were factors in the incident.

Senior scientific officer Damien Coll said the accident had happened in as little as one-and-a-half seconds.

There was nothing to suggest Ms Smyth was breaking the 30mph speed limit and a postal van may have obstructed her view, the expert added.

The car ran over the top of the child, the inquest heard. Ms Smyth described to police what happened after she left her friend's house.

"The wee girl just seemed to appear out of nowhere. I slammed on my brakes and got out of the car but the body seemed to be rolling about," her desposition said.

The girl's parents Gary and Andrea McAleese named their hairdressing business after their daughter and her sister Maya, 10, who has been seeing a child psychologist since the accident.

Mrs McAleese told the hearing: "Our lives have been destroyed without her."

She expressed her disappointment to the coroner that the driver was not in court and that her family was not going to have the opportunity to hear the woman's side of events.

She thanked the paramedics, hospital staff and others who had tried to save her daughter.

Roma attended St Malachy's Nursery School and was due to go on to Millburn Primary School in Coleraine.

"She had a big sister who worshipped her. She was me and her daddy's world," Mrs McAleese added following the inquest.

A playhouse is being built at St Malachy's nursery named after Roma and a remembrance tree was planted at Millburn.

Mrs McAleese added: "The whole community at that time, we would not have gotten through this without the support from the people."

The coroner ruled that Roma died at the Causeway Hospital from head, neck and chest injuries sustained when she was knocked down while crossing the road by a car being driven within the speed limit.