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Hamill Family Win Small Victory

16/04/08

The family of murdered Portadown man, Robert Hamill, have won the first stage in their legal battle to overturn a decision by British direct rule minister Shaun Woodward to limit the terms of an inquiry into his death.

Following a hearing in Belfast’s High Court on Friday, April 11, the go-ahead was given for a full judicial review of the attempts to strangle any inquiry.

Catholic 25-year-old father-of-two, Robert Hamill, was kicked unconscious by a large gang of unionists in the centre of Portadown, county Armagh, in April 1997 and died shortly afterwards from his injuries.

The random sectarian attack happened in full view of an RUC land rover. Four RUC officers wearing body armour, armed with automatic pistols, plastic bullets and a semi-automatic rifle sat in the armoured vehicle while the attack took place and refused to intervene.

Eighteen months ago, lawyers acting for Robert’s family had formally requested that the remit of the inquiry be extended to include an investigation of the Director of Public Prosecutions. However, on March 20 this year, after a year and a half of prevarication by the British government, direct rule minister Woodward announced that he would not permit any widening of the inquiry’s remit.

The Hamill family were understandably angry at this latest attempt to undermine and frustrate their 11-year quest for justice and truth and instructed their legal team to challenge Woodward’s decision. Friday’s small victory for the family means that a full judicial examination of the direct rule minister’s decision will now be heard in Belfast’s High Court. It is expected that the judicial hearing, which may last for several days, will be heard in early June.

éirigí spokesperson Daithí Mac an Mháistír said the murder and the state’s lack of response provided further evidence of the irreformably sectarian nature of the RUC.

“This particular case is important, not just because this was a blatantly sectarian murder, but also because of the very strong evidence that exists which indicates that RUC officers ignored the plight of Robert Hamill simply because he was a catholic.

“Canadian judge Peter Cory, whose own investigation led to the establishment of the present public inquiry, detailed in his report various instances of gross dereliction of duty by several RUC officers, and the active and open collusion of at least one RUC officer with at least one of the murder suspects in this case.”

Daithí continued, “Robert Hamill’s death is highly symptomatic of the institutionalised sectarianism which has existed for decades within the Six County statelet generally and specifically within the RUC/PSNI. It also illustrates the ongoing, self-serving attempts by the British state to hamper the emergence of the truth in order to maintain the façade of normalisation.

“Nor should people believe, simply because of the cosmetic changes to policing which have taken place in the years since Robert’s murder, that such institutionalised sectarianism no longer exists. In October last year, the partisan sectarianism of the RUC-PSNI was again graphically exposed in Portadown. Footage recorded by CCTV from Catholic-owned premises in the town’s Woodhouse Street captured the RUC-PSNI ignoring a violent attack by a unionist mob on two young nationalists.”

That footage, which was broadcast on television before being handed over to the Police Ombudsman’s office, showed:

• A unionist attacker smashing a bottle over a young man's head
• A nationalist youth being repeatedly beaten and kicked by around 10 unionists after being knocked to the ground
• One of the unionist gang repeatedly stamping on the youth’s head
• An RUC-PSNI land rover driving past within a few feet of the vicious, unprovoked assaults before parking 80 yards away while the attacks were ongoing.

Nationalists quickly equated that incident with the Robert Hamill murder.

Daithí concluded, “While other political parties have actively advocated that the nationalist community should give their allegiance to policing structures in the Six Counties, éirígí has consistently pointed out that the RUC-PSNI were, and remain, an institutionally partisan force.

“The actions and, indeed, inactions of that force have shown our analysis to be correct and that our views are, in fact, shared by many nationalists and republicans. Despite the intense political and propaganda campaign being mounted by the advocates of the RUC-PSNI, a recent British government study, entitled Perceptions of Crime and published on April 3, showed that less than half of nationalists believe the RUC-PSNI is capable of doing a good job. It would appear that the majority of nationalists and republicans in the Six Counties still remain unwilling to accept a British colonial police force.”

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