Killing of Robert Hamill

Killing of Robert Hamill
Robert Hamill
Date27 April 1997 (1997-04-27)
LocationPortadown, County Armagh, Northern Ireland
Coordinates54°25′22″N 6°26′37″W / 54.4226953241807°N 6.4435453487172785°W / 54.4226953241807; -6.4435453487172785
CauseAssault
DeathsRobert Hamill (aged 25 years)
Inquiries
Convicted
  1. Paul Rodney Marc Hobson
  2. James Michael Robert McKee
  3. Andrea McKee
  4. Robert Cecil Atkinson
Convictions
  1. Affray
  2. Perverting the course of justice
  3. Perverting the course of justice
  4. Perverting the course of justice
Sentence
  1. 4 years imprisonment
  2. 6 months imprisonment
  3. 6 months imprisonment (suspended)
  4. 12 months imprisonment

Robert Hamill was a Northern Irish Catholic man who was beaten to death by a loyalist mob in Portadown, County Armagh, Northern Ireland. Hamill and his friends were attacked on 27 April 1997 on the town's main street. It has been claimed that the local Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC), parked a short distance away, did nothing to stop the attack. At the time of the murder, tension between Ulster loyalists (mainly Protestants) and Irish nationalists (mainly Catholics) was high, mostly due to the ongoing Drumcree parade dispute.