Solicitor from West Cork almost caught up in Westminster attack

A solicitor hailing from West Cork witnessed the direct aftermath of the terrorist attack at Westminster on Wednesday.

Michael Kingston, who comes from Goleen and lives in London, was attending a meeting in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) before planning to head along Westminster Bridge for another meeting.

But he told RedFM that when he got there, “all hell was breaking loose”.

Mr Kingston said: “There was a car mounted on the kerb on the far side and people were running from it. I stayed on the north side railing of the bridge and the next thing I heard were shots. I could see police scrambling. I realised at that point that it was a terrorist attack.”

He added: “I could see bodies on the ground and the police were shouting: ‘He is down there.’ I decided to take evasive action.

“I was standing there wondering in which direction I could go. There were no paramedics there at that point. There were just ordinary people trying to help - tending to people lying dying in the street.”

He said he could have been on the bridge during the attack if he hadn’t been “delayed by two or three minutes” in the bathroom in the FCO.