The father of a young man murdered by the UVF has accused the Northern Secretary of nearly falling asleep during a meeting to discuss the case.
Raymond McCord said he met Peter Hain last week in the presence of North Down Ulster Unionist MP Lady Sylvia Hermon to discuss the murder of his son, also called Raymond.
The young Protestant victim was beaten to death by the UVF in 1997 and his body left at a quarry. His grave was vandalised in 2002 at Carnmoney on the northern outskirts of Belfast.
Mr McCord told BBC Radio Ulster yesterday: "Lady Sylvia and myself had the meeting last week to discuss an independent judicial inquiry for young Raymond. Peter Hain started to doze off several times, nodded the head, his eyes closed and showed no interest whatsoever.
"It was total disrespect to young Raymond and his case."
Asked to define "doze off" by presenter Stephen Nolan, Mr McCord continued: "Lady Sylvia and myself were talking about the case and Peter Hain three times closed his eyes. The head went over as if he was going to go to sleep. He must find it awful boring to listen to the brutal murder of a young 22-year-old man whose family and a member of parliament are seeking justice. Three times the man's head went over to nod off, to go to sleep."
Asked if he could be mistaken about what he saw, he added: "I'm not talking about a blink. Lady Hermon has confirmed since . . . that this really happened, it wasn't the case that he just closed his eyes and blinked. You thought he was sitting watching the TV and was about to fall asleep."
The Northern Ireland Office responded yesterday saying Mr Hain had "listened very carefully" to what Mr McCord had to say. "The Secretary of State fully understands and supports Mr McCord's demand that those responsible for the horrific murder of his son, Raymond, be brought to justice.
"He also understands that Mr McCord did not hear what he wanted to hear but he hopes the report by the police ombudsman, Nuala O'Loan, and the work of the historic inquiries team will move the case forward."
The statement did not directly address Mr McCord's complaint. The ombudsman's report into the police handling of the killing is due shortly.
Mr McCord said he believed it would be critical of the RUC investigation and would refer to "the collusion factor" with loyalist paramilitaries.