The Pat Finucane Centre condemns today’s decision by the Director of Public Prosecutions not to prosecute a number of RUC officers present when 25-year-old Robert Hamill was beaten unconscious in Portadown town centre. The decision only underscores the need for a root and branch overhaul of the entire system of prosecutions. It is claimed that the DPP took the decision because there was no reasonable prospect of convicting any of the officers.
In April of 1997, Robert Hamill and a friend were set upon by a mob of up to 30 loyalists. The attack took place in full view of an RUC Land Rover, 200 yards from an RUC station. Constable Neill, Reserve Constable Atkinson, Reserve Constable Cornett and Reserve Constable Sharpe – four RUC officers wearing body armour and armed with machine guns – did not intervene and remained in the Land Rover until after the attack. Robert Hamill never regained consciousness after the attack and died only days later.
The RUC issued a number of contradictory and false press statements in the wake of the attack. None of the RUC officers who observed the attack have been suspended from duty. It is also believed that no disciplinary action has been taken against any of the officers, nor is any disciplinary action planned.
One wonders if the DPP had access to the reports that British Irish Rights Watch submitted to the United Nations Special Rapporteur concerning Robert Hamill’s death (available on this web site). One also wonders if the DPP had access to the video footage which the RUC refused to provide to the family solicitor, Rosemary Nelson.
This is but another setback for the Hamill family who have endured so much since the death of Robert. There is, however, a very real possibility that the Hamill family will now pursue a private prosecution against the RUC. We would fully support such a move.