• Source: Killing of Robert Hamill

Robert Hamill was a Northern Irish Catholic man who was beaten to death by a loyalist mob in Portadown, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. Hamill and his friends were attacked on 27 April 1997 on the town's main street. It has been claimed that the local Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), parked a short distance away, did nothing to stop the attack. At the time of the murder, tension between Ulster loyalists (mainly Protestants) and Irish nationalists (mainly Catholics) was high, mostly due to the ongoing Drumcree parade dispute.




Death


Hamill and his friends were attacked by a group of loyalists, many of whom had just returned via bus from a night out at The Coach nightclub in Banbridge, while walking home from St. Patrick's dance hall at about 1:30 am on 27 April 1997. After walking along Market Street from the dance hall, they came to the intersection of Market and Thomas Streets in Portadown, where they were attacked. Hamill and his friend, Gregory Girvan, were attacked by the crowd while their attackers shouted abuse at them and Robert Hamill was knocked unconscious almost immediately. A witness at the scene described approximately 20 people kicking and punching Hamill in the head and body as he lay defenceless on the ground, while shouting "kill him, kill the fenian bastard". Girvan's wife and sister, Joanne and Siobhán Garvin, respectively, called for help from four RUC officers sitting in a Land Rover about 20 feet (6.1 m) away from the attack, but they did not intervene to stop the attack. The assault lasted about ten minutes, leaving both men unconscious. Just before the ambulance arrived, one of the RUC men got out of the Land Rover and told Garvin to put Robert into the recovery position.
Robert Hamill never regained consciousness and died of his injuries eleven days later on 8 May 1997, aged 25. The cause of death recorded in his autopsy was "Diffuse Brain Injury associated with Fracture of Skull due to Blows to the Head".




Initial arrests and police interviews


Several men were arrested and questioned by police after Robert Hamill's death, however only one of this group was eventually put on trial for his murder:

Dean Forbes was interviewed under caution, without his solicitor present, on 6 May 1997. He admitted being in Portadown town center with Stacey Bridgett on the night Robert Hamill was attacked, and described watching a fight between a large group of people (where Stacey suffered a suspected broken nose) but denied taking part in it himself. In a subsequent cautioned interview on 10 May 1997, this time with his solicitor present, RUC detectives asserted that police officers at the scene observed him and Stacey approaching another man in a threatening manner, and they were both warned to leave the area. The detectives also informed Forbes that two different witnesses had made statements, naming him as one of the persons involved in the beating of Robert Hamill and having assaulted another man during the same incident. Forbes denied all accusations.
Stacey Bridgett was interviewed under caution with his solicitor present on 6 May 1997, where he admitted being in Portadown with Dean Forbes on the night in question. He described a fight breaking out and being punched in the nose by an unknown assailant, whereafter he walked away from the incident to let his nose bleed out. The RUC detectives asserted that a witness had pointed him out to a police officer at the scene as someone who had jumped on Robert Hamill's head, and that he had stood out specifically in her memory as he had a bleeding nose at the time. Stacey denied all accusations.
Allister Hanvey made a statement to the RUC on 7 May 1997, where he admitted being at the scene in Portadown where Robert Hamill was beaten however he denied taking part in the attack itself. A few days later Hanvey was interviewed under caution with his solicitor present, where RUC detectives asserted that two witnesses had given statements identifying him by name and stating that they seen him punching and kicking Robert Hamill while he was lying prone on the ground. Hanvey denied all accusations and stated that he did not attack Robert Hamill in any way.
Paul Hobson (a.k.a Marc Hobson) made a statement to the RUC on 9 May 1997, where he admitted being in Portadown town center on the night in question with Allister Hanvey, however he denied witnessing (and thus taking part in) any violent actions. However, in a cautioned interview with his solicitor on the same day, RUC detectives asserted that three different witnesses had observed him fighting at the scene of the incident. One witness, who named Hobson both by his own name and his nickname of "Muck", claimed to have seen him fighting two separate men. Another witness, who was a police officer at the scene, described Hobson by the clothes he was wearing along with an accurate physical description, kicking Robert Hamill while he was on the ground. The third witness named five people, one of whom was Hobson, who he saw kicking and jumping on Robert Hamill while he lay defenceless on the ground. Hobson denied all accusations.
Wayne Lunt was interviewed under caution with his solicitor present on 10 May 1997, where he admitted being in Portadown near the scene of the incident and was briefly detained in the back of a police land rover for an identity check, allegedly for wearing a Rangers scarf wrapped around his lower face as a disguise. RUC detectives asserted that they had received a witness statement claiming that the person who was placed in the back of the land rover that night was seen kicking Robert Hamill while he was on the ground, an accusation that Lunt denied.
Rory Randolph Arthur Robinson (aka Rory) was interviewed under caution with his solicitor present on 10 May 1997, where he admitted being in Portadown near the scene of the incident, where he observed a disturbance involving a large group of people but did not take part in it himself. The RUC detectives asserted that he was in fact fully involved with the fracas and was hit by a police officer at the scene, who knew him by name, with a baton due to his aggressive behaviour. The following day, during another cautioned interview, detectives asserted that two witnesses had made statements identifying him by name as one of the men who assaulted Robert Hamill while he was lying on the ground. Robinson denied all accusations.




Initial criminal charges


On 12 May 1997, five Portadown men (Allister Hanvey, Wayne David Lunt, Paul Rodney Marc Hobson, Dean Forbes, Stacey Bridgett) were charged with the murder of Robert Hamill at a special court in Lurgan RUC station and remanded in custody. A sixth man, Rory Randolph Arthur Robinson, was also later charged with murder.
Despite later claims of having no affiliation with any loyalist paramilitary groups, at their own request Hanvey, Lunt, Hobson, Forbes and Bridgett were held on remand in the Ulster Volunteer Force wing of HMP Maze, while Robinson was held on the Loyalist Volunteer Force wing of the same prison. The October 1997 edition of the L.V.F's Leading the Way magazine also contained a message of support addressed to the "Portadown Six", stating: "We would like to take this opportunity to wish you all success in your trial ... you have been criminalized for defending yourselves against an unprovoked attack ... you have our full support and best wishes and we hope to see you home soon".
On 31 October 1997, charges were dropped against Rory Randolph Arthur Robinson, Alistair Hanvey and Dean Forbes, after the Director of Public Prosecutions withdrew the murder charges on the evidence of certain witnesses. On 19 November 1997, the charges against Wayne Lunt and Stacey Bridgett were also dropped, with the DPP later stating that the evidence available was insufficient to provide a reasonable prospect of obtaining a conviction for murder against the men.




Trial of Paul Rodney Marc Hobson


Paul Rodney Marc Hobson was found not guilty of the murder of Robert Hamill after a crown court trial, however he was found guilty of unlawful fighting and causing an affray and sentenced to four years' imprisonment. The case under which Hobson was prosecuted is questionable as the main witness, Constable Atkinson of the then RUC, was at one stage a suspect in conspiracy to cause murder in the same case. His solicitor also did not use crucial evidence in the case to cross-examine witnesses. Mr. Justice McCollum said during his verdict that the killing was a sectarian act, with a very large number of loyalists attacking a small number of nationalists, but that he could not decide whether the RUC men had left their Land Rover or not during the attack.




Criticism of police actions


Rosemary Nelson was solicitor for the Hamill family (until she was assassinated by a loyalist car bomb in Lurgan) and she began holding the RUC to account within days of the assault on Robert Hamill. The four RUC officers in the land rover at the scene were heavily criticized for not getting out of their vehicle and intervening or taking any other actions (such as calling for back up or firing shots into the air) to try to prevent the prolonged attack on Hamill, with accusations being leveled that they did not intervene because it was a Catholic who was being attacked. The RUC itself was also criticised for initially claiming in press releases that there was a riot between two large groups; then afterwards claiming it was a large group attacking a group of four. RUC officer Gordon Cooke was also the subject of a subsequent internal investigation where he was accused of neglecting to preserve the crime scene, as well as failing to arrange the prompt arrests of identified suspects (or the seizure of their clothes for forensic examination), which resulted in loss of valuable forensic and identification evidence that led to a number of persons being acquitted at court for offences linked to the death of Robert Hamill.He was subsequently exonerated of all allegations. Diane Hamill, sister of Robert, also claimed the RUC had harassed her in the lead up to the trial of Marc Hobson, citing incidents such as blocking her in a car park with their vehicles and following her on foot while she was out shopping.




Allegations of police collusion


A public inquiry (the Robert Hamill Inquiry) was held on the recommendation of Cory Collusion Inquiry to investigate allegations that RUC officers at the scene of the attack failed to protect Robert Hamill and later frustrated the investigation into his death. Within days of the attack, the girlfriend of murder suspect Allister Hanvey made a statement to police claiming her boyfriend had bragged about RUC reserve officer Atkinson phoning his home a few hours after Robert Hamill's assault to advise him to destroy the clothing he was wearing at the time of the incident and was also ringing him everyday to give him insider information on the RUC's investigation. During subsequent interrogations, RUC reserve
officer Atkinson gave a statements confirming he knew Allister Hanvey from involvement in the local Taekwondo club (Hanvey was a black belt in the sport) and had seen him in Portadown town center on the night in question, however he denied having called his house to warn him to dispose of evidence. Atkinson asserted that a family friend named James Michael Robert McKee (who managed the local Taekwondo club they both attended) and his wife Andrea had slept over at his own house on the night in question, and it was McKee who rang Hanvey's house to enquire about the wellbeing of Hanvey's girlfriend, who happened to be McKee's niece.




Subsequent legal proceedings






= McKee's 2002 conviction for perverting the course of justice

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On 7 May 2002, James Michael Robert McKee and his ex-wife Andrea pleaded guilty at Craigavon Crown Court to doing an act with intent to pervert the course of justice in relation to the fatal assault on Robert Hamill. Andrea McKee was sentenced to 6 months imprisonment suspended for 2 years, however Michael McKee was sentenced to 6 months immediate imprisonment. It was revealed at the conclusion of their trial that after the break up of their marriage, Andrea had contacted police to withdraw previous statements she had made regarding phone calls from RUC reserve officer Atkinson's house on the morning of 27 April 1997.
She then attended several police interviews where she outlined how Atkinson had asked her husband Michael to make false statements to cover the fact Atkinson himself had phoned the house of Alistair Hanvey (who was later charged with Robert Hamill's murder) and how Andrea herself had given untrue statements to police claiming her and her husband had slept over at Atkinson's house to support the false narrative. Andrea McKee also indicated that she would be willing to give evidence at any subsequent criminal proceedings regarding the offence she was convicted of.




= Collapse of Atkinson's & Kenneth Hanvey 2010 trial for perverting the course of justice

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In December 2010 it was announced that three people, including a former RUC officer, were to be charged in relation to Robert Hamill's death. In September 2014, after several delays to legal proceedings, District Judge Peter King, sitting at Craigavon court, ruled that a key witness was entirely unreliable and utterly unconvincing. The case against the three, ex-policeman Robert Cecil Atkinson, his wife Eleanor Atkinson, and Kenneth Hanvey, was thus ruled not sufficient to try.




= Atkinson's & Kenneth Hanvey 2023 trial for perverting the course of justice

=
On 13 September 2023, ex-RUC reserve officer Robert Cecil Atkinson (who was one of the officers in the police vehicle on the night Robert Hamill was killed) and his wife Eleanor Atkinson were charged with
conspiring with each other and others to pervert the course of justice in on dates between September and 30 October 1997. The charge was in relation to the giving of false information to police officers making enquiries about a telephone call made from Atkinson's house on 27 April 1997 at 08:37 am, regarding the identity of the person making the call. While Atkinson had previously given a statement that James Michael Robert McKee was the person who made the call, it had been alleged that Atkinson himself had called the home of Allister Hanvey (who was later charged with Robert Hamill's murder) to advise him to destroy the clothing he was wearing at the time of the incident.
Both Robert Cecil Atkinson and his wife entered not guilty pleas at Craigavon Crown Court, and the case was adjourned for mention again in October 2023. A third defendant, Kenneth Hanvey, was also due to be arraigned on a charge of perverting the course of justice on the same day, however his case was adjourned as he could not attend court due to illness. On 10 October 2023, Kenneth Hanvey entered a not guilty plea at Craigavon Crown Court to a charge of perverting the course of public justice on 25 November 1997, in relation to providing false information to a police officer regarding the true identity of a person who called his house on that date. Hanvey was thereafter released on bail, with his trial expected to begin in early 2024.




= Robert Cecil Atkinson 2024 conviction for perverting the course of justice

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On 18 April 2024, ex-RUC reserve officer Robert Cecil Atkinson pleaded guilty at Craigavon Crown Court to conspiring to pervert the course of justice in relation to police investigations into the killing of Robert Hamill in 1997. Specifically, Atkinson admitted that he conspired together with the McKee's and others to pervert the course of public justice by giving false information to police officers regarding the identity of the person who made a telephone call from his house at 8:37am on the morning of 27 April 1997. Prosecutors then informed Judge Patrick Lynch that they would be offering no further evidence against co-defendant’s Eleanor Atkinson or Kenneth Hanvey, and therefore not guilty verdicts were recorded for each of them. Judge Lynch instructed the prosecution to clarify exactly what criminal liability Atkinson had admitted to by his guilty plea, as although he had confessed to making a false statement about who made a phone call, it was unclear if he had any responsibility in terms of interfering with the actual police investigation into the death of Robert Hamill. Atkinson was thereafter released on bail, with sentencing scheduled for early June 2024.
On 07 June 2024, at a sentencing hearing in Craigavon Court Court, defence lawyer KC Barry Gibson lodged a plea in mitigation on behalf of Robert Cecil Atkinson, asserting that due to multiple serious health issues such as strokes, TMIs and heart attacks, the defendant couldn't remember the contents of the phone call he made on 27 April 1997. Prosecutor KC Toby Hedworth countered that, regardless of the authorities being unable to prove exactly what had been said during the phone conversation, the context of the call was that a police officer who was present during the fatal assault ringing the home of a young man who was also present at the scene of the crime, and who was most likely going to be a suspect in any future police investigation into the death of Robert Hamill. After remarking that delays in the case reaching trial coupled with Atkinson’s many medical issues might justify the ultimate suspension of any prison sentence he would impose, and that he would have to review victim impact statements before making a final decision, Judge Patrick Lynch adjourned sentencing for a week and again released Atkinson on bail.
On 14 June 2024, Robert Cecil Atkinson was sentenced to 12 months in prison for conspiring to pervert the course of justice in relation to police investigations into the killing of Robert Hamill in 1997. Trail judge Patrick Lynch remarked to Atkinson that he had been "a disgrace to [his] uniform and have continued to serve as a police officer for years afterwards as a criminal - for there is no other description for you."




See also


The Troubles in Portadown
Robert Hamill Inquiry




References

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