"People who killed our brother were never fully held accountable due to the obstructive conduct of the state justice agencies," says Robert Hamill's family
“The people who killed our brother were never fully held accountable due to the obstructive conduct of the state justice agencies,” said the family of Robert Hamill who died after being attacked by a loyalist mob in Portadown.
After the findings of a major Public Inquiry into Mr Hamill’s killing were published on Monday, the Hamill family shared a statement voicing their disappointment that no one has been convicted of their brother’s murder.
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The family led a long and intensive campaign seeking a public inquiry into his murder following a brutal attack in Portadown town centre on April 27, 1997.
Robert’s sister Diane read a family statement. "First of all, I would like to thank the inquiry team for its diligence and commitment in preparing this report into the death of our brother Robert, more than 29 years ago.
"I would also like to thank all those organisations and individuals who supported our campaign for justice over many years. While too numerous to name all of them, we particularly wish to acknowledge the support of Jane Winter of British-Irish Rights Watch, and the Committee on the Administration of Justice, and our legal team, including the late Rosemary Nelson.
"Although we have some reservations about aspects of this report, we as a family feel totally vindicated by the clear and unequivocal findings of the panel. It documents multiple and shocking wrongdoing, some of it delivered by state agencies. These failings have led to those who murdered our brother evading justice.
"We are disappointed that the panel could not agree on the consequences of the police officers in the Land Rover failing to intervene while Robert was being attacked. We agree with the late Chairman that these officers were guilty of a wrongful omission in failing to keep a watch on the junction where the assault was taking place.
"We welcome the finding that the significant failures in post-incident debriefing by Inspector McCrum, DCI P39, and DCS McBurney were wrong, negligent, and obstructed the investigation.
"We welcome the finding that the tipping-off phone call by Reserve Constable Atkinson, one of the officers in the Land Rover, to Alistair Hanvey, a key suspect in the murder, was a deliberate, wrongful act.
"We welcome the critical findings of the actions of the late DCS McBurney, who was the officer in charge of the investigation. The report states that not only was DCS McBurney negligent in the way he conducted the investigation, but that in some aspects, he actually deliberately obstructed it.
"We have always felt that the DPP decision to withdraw the initial prosecution of Reserve Constable Atkinson in 2004 was both wrong and caused incalculable damage to this investigation.
"We therefore welcome the inquiry finding that the office of the DPP was wrong in its approach, and that the consequences of that decision for this investigation were significant. We are concerned to learn that the then Attorney General was inaccurately briefed by the office of the DPP.
"Finally, I just want to reiterate that the people who killed our brother were never fully held accountable due to the obstructive conduct of the state justice agencies.
"We would urge you to read the report in full as it is quite extensive. Quite often, the devil is in the detail.”