An RUC officer was one of seven people arrested in the North today in a major inquiry into the handling of a police investigation into the murder of a Catholic kicked to death by a loyalist mob.
|
|
Robert Hamill who died
after being attacked by a loyalist mob |
The reservist was detained with four men and two women in the Portadown area of Co Armagh on the orders of the Northern Ireland Police Ombudsman. Father-of-three Robert Hamill (25) was attacked in Portadown in April 1997.
It is the first time Mrs Nuala O'Loan has issued such a directive since being appointed Northern Ireland's first Police Ombudsman last November.
Even though six men were once accused of Mr Hamill's murder, charges against five of them were dropped after two key witnesses withdrew their evidence. A sixth man was later acquitted of the murder.
RUC officers were accused of failing to intervene when they witnessed Mr Hamill being viciously beaten by a crowd of up to 30 loyalists as he returned home from a night out with friends.
Three weeks after her appointment Mrs O'Loan took over direct and active supervision of the investigation into complaints about the police handling of the inquiry following talks with the Mr Hamill's family, their lawyers and the RUC team heading the investigation.
She said today: "I have previously given a commitment to Mr Hamill's family, and to the public, that I will dedicate the necessary resources to ensure that all avenues are investigated in this case and we get to the truth . . . This morning's arrests are part of that process."
All seven were arrested in and around the Portadown area by RUC officers acting under the directions of Mrs O'Loan's staff.
Mr Hamill's family and nationalist representatives - who have demanded an independent public inquiry into the murder - have accused the authorities of being slow to act.
The SDLP has told the British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair they will not sign up to the new policing arrangements in Northern Ireland until their demands for a public inquiry into the Hamill murder - as well as the killings of solicitors Pat Finucane and Rosemary Nelson - are met.
SDLP minister at the Northern Ireland Assembly, Ms Bríd Rodgers, whose Upper Bann constituency includes Portadown, said rapid progress by the inquiry had to be made.
She said: "The determined work of the Police Ombudsman is one part of this picture, but the other pieces of the picture need to be addressed. The Hamill killing has a profound resonance within the community and its deep significance must be recognised by the fullest exploration of the facts."
The Hamill family said the mechanisms of justice had consistently failed to resolve any of the questions they had raised.
A statement said: "We hope these arrests are a turning point and that as a result those responsible will be held accountable for their involvement in Robert's death.
"Whilst there is already a compelling case for a public inquiry, we hope these recent developments will finally persuade the British government to commit itself to an independent public judicial inquiry."
Sinn Fein MLA, Mr Dara O'Hagan seconded calls for an independent inquiry and said arrest of a reserve RUC officer along with six others raises a number of concerns. "This again raises a number of questions about the role of the RUC in the murder and their actions in the investigations into the murder."
Mr Hamill died in the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast on May 8th l997 without regaining consciousness after being beaten and jumped on in the centre of Portadown on April 27th that year.
He had been returning home with a cousin's husband and two women when he was attacked in front of RUC officers sitting in a nearby Land Rover.
Police claimed their men had intervened but were overwhelmed and had to wait for reinforcements before moving in.
|
Sinn Fein MLA, Mr Dara O'Hagan seconded calls for an independent inquiry and said arrest of a reserve RUC officer along with six others raises a number of concerns. "This again raises a number of questions about the role of the RUC in the murder and their actions in the investigations into the murder."
Mr Hamill died in the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast on May 8th l997 without regaining consciousness after being beaten and jumped on in the centre of Portadown on April 27th that year.
He had been returning home with a cousin's husband and two women when he was attacked in front of RUC officers sitting in a nearby Land Rover.
Police claimed their men had intervened but were overwhelmed and had to wait for reinforcements before moving in.
PA