Tunisia inquest: Victim identified by 'glittery nail varnish'

A victim of the Tunisia beach massacre was identified by her glittery nail varnish after being shot in the neck and chest, an inquest has heard.

Trudy Jones, 51, from Blackwood, was holidaying with friends when she was killed.

An inquest at the Royal Courts of Justice in London is hearing evidence in relation to each of the 30 British victims murdered in the atrocity.

The first victim the inquest heard details about was Ms Jones.

She had been on holiday with a number of friends including Carol Anne Powell when gunman Seifeddine Rezgui killed 38 tourists at the five-star Riu Imperial Marhaba Hotel in Sousse on June 26 2015.

On the morning of her death she had gone for breakfast with Ms Powell, before both women got ready to sunbathe.

Ms Jones made her way to beach while Ms Powell sat by the pool.

The inquest heard a statement from Ms Powell.

Ms Powell added that she initially thought it was an explosion in a beach kitchen, and then crowds of people appeared, running away from the area.

Ms Powell described getting caught up in the 'chaos' and eventually deciding to play dead in a hotel car park.

She said a man picked her up and put her on his shoulders - while she continued to play dead - before carrying her to the safety of a neighbouring hotel.

'I am desperate to find out who he is because he saved me,' she added.

In the following days Ms Powell attended the mortuary where the victims' bodies were being held.

Samantha Leek QC, counsel to the inquest, said: 'She (Ms Powell) looked at photographs. She initially did not see anyone who looked like Trudy.'

'A couple of hours later she saw a photograph that looked like her.'

The inquest heard that Ms Powell was then shown a body which corresponded with that picture.

Ms Leek continued: 'She recognised the glittery nail varnish on her toes.'

The court was told that a post-mortem examination was carried out in Tunisia and another in the UK - where Ms Jones was also identified through dental records.

Both gave Ms Jones's cause of death as a single gunshot wound to the neck and chest.

Ms Powell had also been on holiday with Mark Hornby.

Describing how aware he had been of the terror threat in Tunisia, he said: 'I did not check the Foreign and Commonwealth Office website as I was not aware of it.'

In a pen portrait, Ms Powell's family described the carer as a loving mother, grandmother, sister and daughter.

Ms Jones was just 48 hours away from returning home to Blackwood in South Wales when she was killed.