No collusion in sectarian killing but 'wrongful omissions' in police inquiry

An inquiry into the sectarian murder of Robert Hamill has found police officers who were in a vehicle near the attack did not condone or collude with the attackers.

The report, published on Monday, highlighted multiple wrongful omissions in the subsequent murder investigation including a failure to properly search the home of a key suspect.

Robert Hamill was 25 when he died after he was beaten by loyalists in Portadown, County Armagh in 1997.

The inquiry concluded in 2009 and its report was completed in 2011 but the findings could not be published until three prosecutions in connection with the case concluded.

The inquiry concluded: "We find that Robert Hamill had been assaulted before the Land Rover officers got out of their vehicle.

"However, they were not aware of the assault and after they had got out of their vehicle, they attempted to restore order.

"They did not in any way condone or collude with attackers."

Although the inquiry found that the four officers in the police vehicle could not have prevented the murder, the police investigation was flawed – both at the scene and in the days that followed.

"The inquiry found that serving RUC [Royal Ulster Constabulary] officers were guilty of wrongful omissions and that those omissions arose both at the scene and during the initial investigation," it said.

The inquiry concluded that some of the mistakes in the investigation were negligent, while others were deliberate.

The 290-page report followed an inquiry which cost approximately £33m.

The killing of the young Catholic came during the peace process in Northern Ireland but was a reminder of the depth of the sectarian divisions which still existed.

The inquiry report identified a number of key mistakes in the police investigation.

These included:

• Failure to keep full records of the investigation

• Failure to properly search home of a key suspect

• Failure to carry out full debriefing of officers at scene of attack

Nobody has been convicted of the murder.

Speaking after the report's publication, Hamill's sister, Diane, said the family has "some reservations about aspects of this report".

"We as a family feel totally vindicated by the clear and unequivocal findings of the panel.

"It documents multiple and shocking wrongdoing, some of it delivered by state agencies," she said.

"These failings have led to those who murdered our brother evading justice."

She adds that the family is "disappointed" that the panel couldn't agree "on the consequences of the police officers in the Land Rover failing to intervene while Robert was being attacked".

"I just want to reiterate that the people who killed our brother were never fully held accountable due to the obstructive conduct of the state justice agencies."

In terms of deliberate mistakes, the actions of now-retired officer Robert Atkinson were highlighted.

Atkinson was jailed two years ago for conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

The inquiry found he was "guilty of a wrongful act for making a telephone call" to the home of a suspect.

The report said this resulted in that individual "destroying or putting beyond the reach of police the clothes he had been wearing that night".

"This obstructed the investigation and was deliberate," stated the report.

It said Atkinson subsequently conspired to cover up the "tip-off telephone call".

This was "an obstruction of the murder investigation and was deliberate" according to the three-person inquiry panel.