Call to reconsider Hamill decision
Robert Hamill, who was killed in Portadown in April 1997.
Friday March 12 2010
A public inquiry into an infamous sectarian murder in Northern Ireland has called for the authorities to reconsider their decision not to prosecute a police officer accused of protecting one of the killers.
Catholic father-of-three Robert Hamill was attacked by a loyalist mob in Portadown, Co Armagh, in April 1997 as he walked home after a night out with friends.
The inquiry has heard claims that armed police at the scene failed to intervene during the prolonged attack and that as a result the 25-year-old suffered fatal injuries.
On Friday the inquiry issued an unscheduled interim report urging the Public Prosecution Service to "reconsider urgently" a 2004 decision not to proceed with the prosecution of former Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC) Reserve Constable Robert Atkinson for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.
