Bombs bring back mum's memories.

Byline: By Liz Hands

The mother of a woman murdered in a Turkish terror attack said the latest bomb blasts had brought memories of her daughter's death flooding back.

Three people were believed dead and several others injured in a new explosion in Turkey yesterday.

The blast outside restaurants in the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya was confirmed by the local governor's office.

It came a day after a bomb attack injured 21 people, including 10 British tourists, in the Turkish resort of Marmaris.

Helyn Bennett, 21, from South Street, Spennymoor, County Durham, was a passenger on a minibus taking tourists to the beach in the resort of Kusadasi when the bus was blown up by a hidden bomb on July 16 last year.

Sunday's explosion in Marmaris also ripped apart a minibus.

Casualties from that blast were still being cared for last night in Abu Hetman and Caria hospitals, and North-East holidaymakers were speaking of witnessing horrific scenes in the aftermath of the explosion.

Yesterday Sharon Holden, the mother of trainee chef Helyn, said: "Even though Helyn died over a year ago, when I saw the news of the bomb, it all came flooding back.

"I'm so pleased no one was killed this time. But when Helyn's suspected killer was arrested and charged, we said there would be another 10 people lined up to do the same again. We expected another bomb."

Mrs Holden, her husband Tom, twin sister Toni Punshon, and Helyn's fiance Stephen Staples were also in the bus ( along with several other members of her family ( and were also injured.

She has just received a letter from the Foreign Office, which was refusing to fund her to go to the trial of Helyn's suspected killer ( known only as MSF ( informing her the Government will pay out after all.

"They are prepared to fund two of us, Toni and I, to travel," said Mrs Holden, 41.

"When it first happened, there's no way I would have gone back to Turkey. But now I want to look this man in the eye and see him sentenced."

They are also due to travel to London on September 20 for a memorial service for victims of the Kusadasi bomb and those who died in blasts in Egypt's Sharm el Sheikh last July.

North-East holidaymakers in Marmaris yesterday told of how they were caught up in the aftermath of Sunday's blast, which happened at 11.55pm local time. Jill Thornton, of Consett, County Durham, said her son Daniel, 19, had witnessed carnage after the explosion while walking with his girlfriend Laura Stalker, 17.

She said: "He is only 19 and his girlfriend is only 17. I am panicking. His girlfriend was very upset."

Rob Laughton, 41, a catering firm boss originally from Hartlepool, was having dinner with his wife Susan, 46, when they heard the explosion. "We just saw the bus and bodies lying on the ground," he said. "We ran away."

British casualties are said to include a couple, aged 38 and 44 from Coventry, a 13-year-old girl and 73-year-old woman.

Holiday firm Thomas Cook confirmed five of its guests had been injured.

The Foreign Office has released a telephone number ( [phone] ( for people worried about relatives.