Breivik Witness: It Was A Mistake To Spare Me

A Labour youth survivor of Anders Behring Breivik's massacre in Norway has said the killer's failure to murder him has only strengthened his belief in democracy.

Giving evidence at the Breivik trial at Oslo district court, Adrian Pracon talked about the shootings on Utoya island in which 69 people died.

He said the extremist shouted at his victims "I'm going to kill you all" before taking aim at him and then deciding not to shoot.

He told the court how he pleaded with Breivik not to kill him and how the gunman moved on.

Mr Pracon then warned people not to go into the water after seeing Breivik shoot others who had been trying to swim to safety.

He described how he was shot in the shoulder. He said he was partly covered by a jacket and played dead: "I suddenly see his feet very close to my head. I close my eyes.

"It felt like my whole head got warm, but I was shot in the shoulder. That's when he tried to kill me."

"I realised how bad this was when a white boat arrived. The water was red. Bodies everywhere"

Mr Pracon said Breivik made a mistake because "I now realize how much society is worth, and how fragile we are."

The killer never gave Mr Pracon an answer as to why his life was spared.

After hearing from the final Utoya survivor, the court switched focus to take evidence from police officers who responded to the shootings.

Questions have been raised about the police response - which is being investigated - after it emerged the first police unit arrived at a ferry quay 600m away from Utoya and were told to observe and prepare boats for trained anti-terror police.

Sky's Trygve Sorvaag, reporting from inside the courtroom, said: "Lawyers representing the families want to know if more could have been done to save more people - and why police waited for specialist police."

"The judge stopped them asking critical questions about the police response. A special commission is looking into the police response."

The first officer to respond described going to the pier on the mainland and hearing shots coming from the island and seeing a boat with people escaping.

He said: "We shouted 'police, come over here'. The boat then turned away. They were clearly afraid of me."

The officer said the gunfire was not "wild", but "controlled". "The weapon I had could not have fired across to shoot Breivik ," he told the court.

On arriving at the island, he described assisting the injured and moving the dead: "We moved quite a few deceased people from the water and the edge of the water."

Hans Mattis Hamborg, head of police operations, also gave evidence and revealed a boat carrying 11 officers and equipment had engine trouble because of its heavy load.

Boats from camping tourists and locals were used by police to get to the island.

Next in the witness box was the policeman who arrested Breivik, Havard Gasbakk.

"Breivik said 'I am not after you. I see you as my friends. I am here to get Labour youth. This is a coup d'etat'," he told the court.

The officer described Breivik as being "calm" and wanting to negotiate immediately.

The killer also requested a plaster for a bleeding finger, the officer said.

Breivik was interrogated 31 times by police for a total of 220 hours.

He has admitted responsibility for a bomb blast that killed eight people in the Norwegian capital Oslo and the shooting on Utoya island but he has pleaded not guilty to murder, claiming he acted in self-defence.