Ahern calls for judicial inquiry into Portadown man murder

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern has called for an independent judicial inquiry into the killing of Robert Hamill, who was kicked to death by a loyalist mob in a sectarian attack in Portadown in 1997 in front of RUC officers who allegedly watched but did not intervene.  Mr Hamill died from his severe injuries and nationalists claim that RUC officers who were sitting in a Land Rover nearby did not intervene. One man was jailed for causing an affray on that night, but the four RUC officers were not prosecuted and the coroner abandoned the inquest because of the danger to the lives of witnesses. The Hamill family, who have been demanding a public inquiry into Robert's death, met Mr Ahern yesterday at Government Buildings and briefed him on recent developments in the case, including new evidence that Robert's sister, Diane Hamill, called "very significant". The relatives were accompanied by the director of human rights group The Committee on the Administration of Justice, who handed a report on the case to the Taoiseach. Mr Ahern said that at the meeting "very serious and unanswered questions have been raised about the role of the individual police officers at the time of the attack." He said the Irish Government had come to the view that the case should now be the subject of an "independent judicial inquiry". The decision to back an inquiry was welcomed by former Taoiseach Albert Reynolds, who said that at a time when a new police force is being planned, action is needed to restore confidence in policing in the North. (Ireland 09/06/00