The Omagh Bombing Inquiry is examining whether the single worst atrocity of the Troubles could have been prevented
Twenty-nine people, including a woman expecting twins, were murdered in the Real IRA attack on 15 August 1998
This is the fourth week of hearings
Edited by Conor Neeson. Warning: This page contains distressing details
From the 15 August my life had changed forever.
Although he has been affected significantly, Mr Scott says: "At all times we must keep those who lost loved ones at the front of our minds.
"But we also have to remember the many hundreds who were injured."
Mr Scott says during the inquest one of his tasks was to liaise with the local Omagh trauma team.
But he says whenever he did break he "could not and would not" go and see anybody from that team.
"I didn't want them to see me being so weak," he says.
Mr Scott says at the end of the inquest he "just sat down and broke".
He says he had to take periods off on sick leave but that with the help of his superintentent he continued in his role.
He says before the bomb he was a "confident police officer" but afterwards he lost all of his confidence and "all I could do was function at a desk job".
He tells the inquest he had to regularly see a police psychiatrist for PTSD.
Mr Scott says he felt a sense of pride in being asked to complete the inquest file, as it was down to his knowledge of the scene and of Omagh.
What struck him from an early stage was that because they moved the bodies there was no definitive map of where the bodies lay.
He was trying to match up photographs of victims and locate where they were when the bomb went off.
Mr Scott says he was asked to prepare the inquest file and consult with the coroner.
He says that he did so to the best of his ability.
He says because bodies were moved there was no defiivite map of where each person had been when the bomb exploded.
He says that he took it upon himself to try to create such a map.
"I had to go back for a period of about three months back to my regular uniform position," he says.
Mr Scott describes this period as the worst three months that he ever put in.
"I can only describe myself as out of control."
He told a superior officer, "I really don't know what I am doing."
He says he was a "total mess" but got through with the help of his colleagues.
Mr Scott says he did not receive counselling,
He says he was brought into speak to someone from occupational health but that he didn't have the time and had to "go full on with what we were doing".
He says when things "calmed down" he was able to go and seek help.
The days and weeks in the aftermath were "horrendous" he said "sleep was a luxury".
"Much of the off duty time was masked with alcohol," he says/
"But we had a job to do and we did it to the best of our ability."
Mr Scott says he was drafted in to the police inquiry team set up to investigate the explosion.
He says he would go out and talk to witnesses about what they saw.
"We were talking to deeply deeply traumatised people and likewise we were traumatised ourselves."
Mr Scott says he doesn't know what time he got home "but it was late".
Mr Scott says he stood and his back door next to the bin and took off all his clothing.
"I just felt dirty and my clothes had blood on them and a vile vile smell."
He says that he hoped by taking off his clothes he could "disassociate" himself with the scene.
A decision was taken to remove the bodies to give them "some degree of dignity".
An army doctor pronounced and confirmed that life was extinct.
"We grabbed as many blankets and curtains and anything we could to put the bodies into.
"How we treated the bodies" is "one of the most important things that I have tried to emphasise over the years," he said.
"We treated everyone with respect, took them to the entry and gently laid them down," he added.
The entry, where the bodies were gathered "is the reminder for the carnage that was brought to our town".
A lawyer from the inquiry is now reading a written statement from Mr Scott.
"I suppose this was the worst time of the day for me as we lifted young and old with varying degrees of injury."
The statement says there are sights that have stayed with Mr Scott but that he doesn't want to go into detail.
"Needless to say it was horrific and still disturbs me."
Mr Scott says he tended to a injured young person.
"But it was obvious there was nothing we could do," he says.
"I felt absolutely useless... we had to move on."
Mr Scott says it makes him sick to think about it.
"I stood with my colleague, In the middle of the street, not far from the remains of the bomb car," he says.
"He said to me 'there are bodies everywhere'."
To which Mr Scott replied: "I cant see any bodies."
His colleague then said: "Look down at your feet."
And when Mr Scott looked down there was a body at his feet.
Mr Scott says there was water "gushing down" the street as he was walking up it.
"It was tainted with blood even at that stage."
He says there was water coming from somewhere above where the car bomb had been.
Mr Scott says he returned to the scene of the explosion.
"I could see the total devastation."
He says he parked his police car somewhere but he doesn't know where he parked it and he says he never saw it again.
Mr Scott described the scene upon arrival at the hospital as like something form Vietnam.
He said there was an Ulsterbus at the top of the drive, he recalls blood running down the steps of the bus.
He says a man approached the car and said there was no point in taking the lady into the hospital as it was full.
The man then suggested that they put the woman into his vehicle and he would take her to another hospital in Enniskillen.
Mr Scott says he knows that the woman survived.
When tending to the wounded lady, Mr Scott describes a "most surreal" and "eerie silence".
He said a window plane was falling from one of the adjacent buildings,
He said it fell in slow motion and when it hit the ground it broke into a million pieces.
When that happened, he said, the "screams went back up again" and "people thought there was a second bomb".
Mr Scott says he put the lady into the back of the car and drove to the Tyrone County Hospital.
He says he had to take a longer route because of congestion.
He says that he was trying to reassure the lady that she was going to be ok.
"It was a strange sort of thing, I was oblivious to everyone else on the street, but Nikki stood out,"he says.
"We passed glances and went on our way."
Referring to his wife, he told the inquiry that after the bomb, "through the days, weeks, months and years, this lady has given me the support I needed to carry on."
"If she wasn't here I don't know where I would be, I don't know if I would be here," he adds.