Police due to give evidence to a public inquiry into the murder of an Northern Ireland Catholic have been granted temporary anonymity, it was announced today.
An urgent application was made to the Robert Hamill Inquiry today following last night's shooting of Constable Stephen Carroll in Craigavon.
Mr Hamill, 25, died in hospital after being attacked by a loyalist mob in Portadown, Co Armagh, in 1997.
A panel headed by Sir Edwin Jowitt was established to assess whether any failure or omission by the officers to halt the attack, identify killers or properly investigate the murder was deliberate or negligent.
An urgent application to the Robert Hamill Inquiry Panel for screening and anonymity for police officers due to give evidence at the Inquiry was made by Charles Adair QC this morning on behalf of a number of serving and retired police officers. The application was supported by counsel for the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).
The panel chairman today ruled further enquiries would be necessary and made temporary restrictions.
A spokesman for the panel said: "The serving and former police officers in question will not be named during oral evidence presented at the Inquiry.
"To avoid publication of the names of police officers on documents shown on the public and press monitors those monitors will be taken out of use on a temporary basis whilst interim redactions, the removal of the names of relevant police officers, are made to the documents."
The media has been ordered not to publish any name or identify any person who
is the subject of Sir Edwin's ruling taken from the record of evidence at the Inquiry.
Sir Edwin said the step was taken amid the increased security threat to officers and last night's murder.
"On behalf of the Inquiry panel, I would like to express our great distress and sorrow with regard to yesterday's murder. We offer his family our condolences and our prayers," he said.