A formal inquiry into the 1997 sectarian murder of Robert Hamill has determined that police officers stationed near the scene did not collude with or condone the attack. However, the report identified multiple failings in the subsequent investigation, including a deliberate act by a serving officer to tip off a suspect, allowing him to destroy evidence.
Hamill, 25, died 11 days after being beaten by loyalists on Portadown’s Market Street in County Armagh in April 1997. The 290-page report, published on Monday, concluded that while the officers in the Land Rover could not have prevented the murder, their investigation was marred by both negligent and deliberate wrongful omissions.
The findings were delayed for years while other prosecutions related to the case proceeded. The inquiry, which cost approximately £33 million, ran for 77 days and heard from 174 witnesses in person.
Diane Hamill, Robert’s sister, said the family felt “totally vindicated” by the panel’s clear findings of wrongdoing by state agencies. She noted, however, that the family remained disappointed that the panel could not agree on whether the officers’ failure to intervene constituted a wrongful act. “The people who killed our brother were never fully held accountable due to the obstructive conduct of the state justice agencies,” she said.
The report specifically highlighted the actions of retired RUC officer Robert Atkinson, who was jailed in 2024 for conspiring to pervert the course of justice. The inquiry found Atkinson guilty of a wrongful act for making a telephone call to a suspect’s home, which led to the destruction of the clothing worn by the attacker that night. This obstruction was described as deliberate.
Other key mistakes identified included the failure to keep full records of the investigation, the failure to carry out a proper search of a key suspect’s home, and the lack of full debriefings for officers at the scene. To date, no one has been convicted of Hamill’s murder.
The inquiry concluded that Hamill had been assaulted before the police vehicle arrived and that the officers were unaware of the attack until they exited their vehicle, at which point they attempted to restore order. While two members of the panel found no wrongful act or omission by the officers, the chairperson, Sir Edwin Jowitt, expressed a dissenting view on the matter.
Did anyone actually read the full report? Sir Edwin Jowitt dissented on the wrongful act question—hardly a clean slate for the police.
Vindicated is a strong word when the actual murderers are still walking free. It feels like a partial truth at best.
I’m shocked the inquiry cost thirty-three million pounds. You would think transparency would be cheaper than this.
So the tip-off guy went to jail but the killers never faced consequences? That’s a failure of the system, plain and simple.
Another £33 million wasted on bureaucracy while justice remains elusive. The family deserves better than hollow vindication.