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25-year old Robert Hamill was attacked by a loyalist mob in Portadown on 27 April 1997, as he and three friends walked home from a local dance. Eleven days later he died from head injuries sustained during the attack. This murder was shocking for its brutality and its purely sectarian nature – Robert Hamill was killed for simply being a Catholic in the wrong place at the wrong time. In addition, the fact that a police vehicle containing four Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) officers was parked at the intersection where the attack took place and yet failed to intervene to prevent the murder has caused outrage in Northern Ireland. Serious allegations of collusion between the police and the perpetrators of the attack, who have never been convicted for the murder, have led to calls for a full, independent public inquiry in the case.
Terms of reference and composition of Robert Hamill Inquiry
Link to the Robert Hamill Inquiry Website
Robert Hamill Anonymity Case in the House of Lords, 14 May 2007
For further information about BIRW’s activities on the Hamill case please see our annual and monthly reports.
For Peace Justice & Human Rights
