A second RUC man may face charges of criminal neglect of duty over the death of Portadown father of two Robert Hamill (25), who died in hospital 11 days after being attacked by a loyalist mob in the town two years ago.
Mr Hamill's family has lodged a complaint with the RUC over the attack in Portadown, Co Armagh, on April 27th, 1997, in which Mr Hamill, who later died, and his cousin, Mr Gregory Girvan, were knocked unconscious.
Const Alan Neill yesterday told Belfast Crown Court a decision on any possible prosecution he may face will not be made until after the trial of Mr Paul Hobson (21), Deer Park, Portadown, who denies Mr Hamill's murder. Const Neill was one of four constables on crowd-control duty in a police Land-Rover in the Thomas/Market Street area of Portadown on the night of the sectarian attack.
Const Neill told the court that he and three colleagues had been dealing with a growing crowd and claimed they did the best they could that night. Cross-examined by Mr John Orr QC, he said he could not put the events of that night in "chronological order", but he rejected defence suggestions that Mr Hamill was already lying unconscious before he was pulled out of his Land-Rover by a man and a woman.
He said the couple told him, "you sat there and watched that happen"; when he asked what they meant, he "got no response". He thought they were referring to an incident in which two men had squared up to one another, although it was possible an assault had taken place of which he and other officers were not aware.
The constable also rejected defence claims that given the numbers involved, he and other officers had sat in their Land-Rover until after "a defencless" Mr Ha mill and his cousin were attacked. Const Clare Halley, who answered a radio call for assistance from Const Neill's team, admitted that she never noted in her police book claims by two men that a man she had just released had been involved in an attack.
She said one man was "irate and abusive" to her, asking why she had let someone go who had allegedly been involved in an attack. Lord Justice McCollum asked her had she not thought it worthy of noting, given that she had a potential witness. Const Halley replied: "Obviously now I do." She did not take the man's details because she had to assist other police in pushing the crowd back from where two men lay injured.
The Northern Ireland State Pathologist, Prof Jack Crane, said Mr Hamill died from the head injuries he received.
The trial continues today.