23 April 1998 Edition
Hamill family abused in court
At a preliminary hearing into the murder of Portadown Catholic Robert Hamill, Paul Dobson, the only man to remain in custody charged with the killing was further remanded in custody until trial in Belfast crown court later in the year.
At the hearing one of the RUC officers, Alan Neill, who had sat in a landrover yards from the spot where a gang of loyalists kicked Robert Hamill to death reverted to the initial RUC position issued immediately after the attack in April last year. The RUC man said he had seen a confrontation between two groups and at one point he had noticed a ``three-on-one fight'' but failed to indicate what action the RUC took at that time.
After the hearing An Phoblacht spoke to Robert's sister Diane Hamill. She said, ``the RUC went back to their first statement and claimed it was an incident of gang warfare.''
Diane also spoke of how three of the men initially charged with Robert's murder but subsequently released sat in the courtroom. ``The three made stamping gestures and gave me intimidating stares throughout.''
The three loyalists then followed the Hamill's car back to Portadown from the court.
``At one point a van drove between my car and the car the loyalists were in. They flashed their lights to get the van to pull over. It was a frightening experience,'' Diane said.
At the hearing one of the RUC officers, Alan Neill, who had sat in a landrover yards from the spot where a gang of loyalists kicked Robert Hamill to death reverted to the initial RUC position issued immediately after the attack in April last year. The RUC man said he had seen a confrontation between two groups and at one point he had noticed a ``three-on-one fight'' but failed to indicate what action the RUC took at that time.
After the hearing An Phoblacht spoke to Robert's sister Diane Hamill. She said, ``the RUC went back to their first statement and claimed it was an incident of gang warfare.''
Diane also spoke of how three of the men initially charged with Robert's murder but subsequently released sat in the courtroom. ``The three made stamping gestures and gave me intimidating stares throughout.''
The three loyalists then followed the Hamill's car back to Portadown from the court.
``At one point a van drove between my car and the car the loyalists were in. They flashed their lights to get the van to pull over. It was a frightening experience,'' Diane said.