A former Royal Military Police (RMP) staff sergeant who was severely maimed by an IRA bomb in Colchester says the RMP are a low-profile unit which is often forgotten about.

Andy Mudd, whose legs were blown off by an IRA car bomb outside his Colchester home in 1989, described the deaths of six Colchester-based RMP as tragic.

He said: "These deaths are tragic and my sympathy is with the families. I think it is a tragic thing to be killed in that way. It is a criminal action rather than a war action.

"It's got to be sorted out quickly then everyone can go back to normal.

"The RMP are always the first ones in and the last ones out. They are forgotten about a lot but they are crucial it's a team effort.

"The SAS, the Paras and other units are very high profile and are in the news a lot and everyone is talking about them but there are other people out there too, the recovery people, the RMP, the nurses and medics - lots of people that we forget.

"They all do invaluable work to make sure that the high-profile units can do their job."

Published Thursday, June 26, 2003

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