Former RUC reservist and his wife in court over charges relating to Robert Hamill murder in Portadown more than 20 years ago

Standing side by side in the dock of Craigavon Crown Court on Tuesday and with Mr Hamill’s relatives sitting in the public gallery, ex-RUC reserve officer 69-year-old Cecil Atkinson and his wife Eleanor Atkinson, also 69, entered not guilty pleas to the single charges against them.

The couple, from Brownstone Road in Portadown, are accused of conspiring with each other and with Andrea McKee, James Michael McKee “and others” to pervert the course of justice on dates between September and October 20, 1997.

The particulars of the offence allege that they “agreed to give false information to police officers making enquiries about a telephone call made from your house on April 27, 1997 at 08.37 hours, as to the identity of the person making that call”.

A third accused, 72-year-old Kenneth Hanvey from the Derryanvil Road, also in Portadown, was also due to be arraigned on Tuesday, but his case was adjourned as he had not attended due to ill health.

He also faces a charge of perverting justice on November 25, 1997 “in that, when asked by a police officer about a telephone call made from a certain house on April 27, 1997 at 08:37 hours, you gave false information to a police officer that it had been James Michael Robert McKee who made the telephone call”.

In a case which has been before the courts at various levels from as long ago as 2003 and has even been dismissed by other judges due to a lack of credible evidence, this is the first time any of the defendants have appeared in the Crown Court.

The most recent decision, however, was subject to a Judicial Review, brought by Jessica Hamill whose son Robert died after being beaten by a loyalist mob in Portadown in April 1997, and that court ordered the charges to be reinstated.

Mr Hamill's murder was the subject of a public inquiry because it was alleged that four police officers were positioned in a police vehicle near the scene of the attack but did not intervene.

Mr Atkinson was one of the officers in the police vehicle on the night Mr Hamill was attacked.

It had been alleged that a phone call was made from the police officer's home to the home of Allister Hanvey - one of the six people who had, at one time, been charged with Mr Hamill's murder.

It was further alleged that the ex-policeman advised Mr Hanvey to destroy the clothing he was wearing at the time of the incident and that he kept Mr Hanvey up to date as the police investigation progressed. The charges against five of the murder accused, including Mr Hanvey, were dropped and the sixth person was acquitted following a trial.

Mr Atkinson denied making the phone call to Mr Hanvey's house. The ex-policeman claimed that his phone had been used by Michael McKee, the uncle of Mr Hanvey's girlfriend.

At the time, Mr McKee and his then wife Andrea, and the policeman's wife, Eleanor Atkinson, all gave police statements supporting Mr Atkinson's version of events.

However, three years later, following the breakdown of her marriage to Michael McKee, Andrea Jones told the police that neither she nor her former husband had stayed at the Atkinsons' house on the night of the murder.

Ms Jones said that she had been asked by her ex-husband to make the false statement following a request from Mr Atkinson.

Michael McKee and Andrea Jones later pleaded guilty to carrying out an act tending to pervert the course of justice.

In April 2003 the director of public prosecutions began to prosecute the police officer, his wife and Kenneth Hanvey, based on the allegations made by Ms Jones.

The charges against them came after recommendations were made by the Hamill enquiry into the 25-year-old's death.

Dismissing the case in September 2014, District Judge Peter King said the evidence of Ms Jones was “entirely unreliable" and upon which he was “not able to attribute any degree of credibility to any portion" of Andrea Jones's deposition.

Quashing his decision, the Judicial Review concluded however that Judge King should have taken more account of supporting evidence and ordered that “the preliminary inquiry commence afresh before another judge who should feel free to make decisions on the basis of the evidence without regard to any conclusions previously reached.”

In court on Tuesday, both senior lawyers for both the defence and prosecution agreed the trial would take around a month to hear and due to a busy court diary, it would not be heard until at least the New Year.

Freeing the Atkinsons on bail, Judge Patrick Lynch KC said he would review the case on October 10.