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RUC Actions Obstructed Investigation Into Robert Hamill Murder, Inquiry Finds
The report said police near the scene did not collude, but a failure to properly search a suspect’s home hindered the case.
- On Monday, a public inquiry into the 1997 murder of 25-year-old Robert Hamill was published, exposing wrongful police omissions that obstructed the investigation in Portadown, County Armagh.
- Hamill, a Catholic, died 11 days after being beaten by loyalists on Market Street, prompting an inquiry into whether Royal Ulster Constabulary officers facilitated his death or obstructed the subsequent murder investigation.
- Retired officer Robert Atkinson committed a "wrongful act" by phoning a suspect, which led to destroyed evidence, and investigators identified failures to search a suspect's home or properly debrief officers.
- Diane Hamill, the victim's sister, said the family feels "totally vindicated" by the findings, though they remain disappointed officers in the Land Rover were not held accountable for failing to intervene.
- The Robert Hamill inquiry, costing approximately £33 million, concluded nobody has been convicted of the murder, though officers "did not condone or collude" with attackers, and their investigative omissions were negligent and sometimes deliberate.
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Inquiry finds no RUC collusion in murder of Catholic man
An inquiry into the murder of a Catholic man kicked to death by a loyalist mob in Co Armagh in 1997 has found that four RUC officers in a vehicle parked nearby did not collude with the attackers and could not have prevented the assault.
·Ireland
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Coverage Details
Total News Sources15
Leaning Left4Leaning Right1Center9Last UpdatedBias Distribution64% Center
Bias Distribution
- 64% of the sources are Center
64% Center
L 29%
C 64%
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