THE PSNI has said the 'standards expected of policing were not met' after a report into the sectarian murder of Robert Hamill highlighted failings by police.
Mr Hamill, a 25-year-old Catholic man, died after being attacked by a loyalist mob in Portadown, Co. Armagh in April 1997.
While the report said RUC officers in a nearby Land Rover did not 'condone or collude with the attackers' it detailed several subsequent wrongful omissions and acts that obstructed the investigation.
In a statement this evening, PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Anthony McNally said: "Robert Hamill was an innocent young man killed by a despicable act of sectarian hatred.
"The pain of such a grievous loss does not fade and I am acutely aware that this report will be very upsetting for the family. My thoughts are with them."
Sinn Féin MP John Finucane said the report's findings exposed 'a catalogue of wrongful acts, omissions and repeated failures' on the part of police.
The report, published on Monday, said there were persistent failures to carry out debriefs while two officers failed to record details of an individual present at the scene.
It adds that one of those officers, Robert Atkinson, later called the individual, which led to the latter 'destroying or putting beyond the reach of police the clothes he had been wearing that night'.
The inquiry found multiple wrongful omissions in the way the investigation of the clothing tip-off allegation was subsequently handled.
Atkinson was jailed in 2024 for conspiring to pervert the course of justice.
The inquiry also highlighted the failure to keep a policy book as part of the murder investigation, the failure to properly search a suspect's home and the failure to develop the investigation after the arrest of six suspects.
'Serious and unacceptable failings'
ACC McNally this evening acknowledged the inquiry's findings, saying they must 'inform policing and our commitment to impartial, accountable and effective service to every community'.
"The report identifies serious and unacceptable failings in the Royal Ulster Constabulary's response to the murder in April 1997 and in the subsequent investigation," he said.
"These included failures in the initial debriefing of officers, the recording and pursuit of information, the direction and oversight of the murder investigation, and the handling of the allegation that Reserve Constable Atkinson had tipped off a suspect.
"The inquiry found that these failures obstructed the murder investigation.
"It also found that, while the Land Rover crew did not condone or collude with the attackers, they failed to appreciate that Robert Hamill was being attacked before they left their vehicle.
"We recognise the distress these findings will cause, particularly to the Hamill family.
"The report is clear that shortcomings in supervision, investigative practice, record-keeping, forensic strategy and accountability had serious consequences.
"The standards expected of policing were not met.
"The PSNI has changed fundamentally since 1997, including through the establishment of independent police oversight and the development of modern major-crime investigation, public-order, forensic-management, professional-standards and critical-incident arrangements.
"However, the passage of time and organisational change do not diminish the gravity of the inquiry's findings or the need to learn from them."
ACC McNally added that the report recognised reforms already implemented by police and said the force will assess the findings and recommendations against current PSNI policy.
'Negligence, failures, obstruction'
Addressing the findings on Monday, Mr Finucane said the fact that no one had ever been brought to justice for Mr Hamill's murder was 'an abject and total failure of justice and accountability'.
"The report reveals not one isolated mistake, but a catalogue of wrongful acts, omissions and repeated failures in the policing and subsequent investigation of Robert's murder," he said.
"Evidence was not properly secured, searches were inadequate, officers were not properly debriefed, important investigative opportunities were missed and the murder investigation was not properly supervised.
"Most seriously, the inquiry finds deliberate obstruction. A serving RUC officer tipped off the home of a murder suspect, resulting in clothing being destroyed or put beyond the reach of investigators, and subsequently conspired to conceal that tip-off.
"The inquiry also finds that a senior investigating officer deliberately submitted a misleading prosecution file to the DPP, claiming every effort had been made to investigate the tip-off when that was plainly not the case.
"Had the DPP been properly informed, outstanding investigative leads would have been pursued.
"At that time the RUC was a police force whose involvement in collusion with loyalist paramilitaries, and whose profound failures of accountability, have since been extensively documented.
"Against the backdrop of the sectarianism and loyalist violence surrounding Drumcree, Robert and his family were entitled to professional, impartial and determined policing.
"Instead, this report documents negligence, repeated investigative failures and deliberate obstruction.
"We can never know what a competent and unobstructed murder investigation would have achieved, precisely because Robert did not get one.
"But it is clear that these failures seriously diminished the prospect of those responsible for his murder being brought to justice.
"The result is that almost 30 years later, nobody has ever been convicted of Robert's murder.
"His family should never have had to fight this hard, or wait this long, for truth and accountability."
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