Public inquiry opens into sectarian killing
The murder of a Roman Catholic man killed by a sectarian mob while the PSNI were nearby will be probed in a public inquiry opening today.
Security forces deny wrongdoing in the case, but retired Canadian Judge Peter Cory reviewed the death of Robert Hamill in Portadown, Co Armagh, in 1997 and advised that the allegations of PSNI misconduct warranted a public inquiry.
Legal challenges delayed the opening of the probe for more than four years, but today its public hearings will begin in Belfast.
Mr Hamill, 25, died after he was attacked by a loyalist mob during a night out with friends, but claims that police at the scene failed to protect him and subsequently frustrated the investigation caused major controversy.
The Hamill family and their solicitor Rosemary Nelson campaigned to keep the case in the public eye, though the controversy grew when Mrs Nelson was killed in a loyalist bomb attack amid allegations of security force involvement.
The British and Irish governments commissioned Judge Cory to review a number of murder cases where security force involvement was alleged.
He recommended inquiries into cases including the loyalist murder of solicitor Pat Finucane, the republican murder of loyalist Billy Wright in the Maze prison, the IRA murder of Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers Harry Breen and Robert Buchanan, plus the murder of Mr Hamill and Mrs Nelson.
The Robert Hamill Inquiry will begin its public hearings today in the Interpoint Centre in Belfast, the same building where Mrs Nelson’s inquiry is being held.
The Hamill probe will hear from 160 witnesses – including the police officers at the centre of the allegations – with a final report expected by the middle of next year.
Leading counsel to the inquiry Ashley Underwood QC will lead the questioning of witnesses in an investigation which has so far cost £18.8m (€20.7m), but which officials estimate will have a final bill of £36m (€39.8m).
The Hamill family will be represented by Barra McGrory QC, while the Police Service of Northern Ireland will be represented by Richard Ferguson QC.
The Robert Hamill Inquiry will be chaired by former English High Court judge Sir Edwin Jowitt, who will be assisted by former chief constable of Devon and Cornwall Constabulary Sir John Evans and moderator of the Churches’ Commission for Inter Faith Relations the Rev Kathleen Richardson, Baroness Richardson of Calow.
Today’s proceedings will begin with an opening statement by the inquiry chairman.
