Part of the centre of Portadown, Co Armagh, was sealed off last night to allow the family and members of a public inquiry to view the area where Robert Hamill was beaten to death by a loyalist gang in 1997.
Part of the centre of Portadown, Co Armagh, was sealed off to allow the family, plus members of a public inquiry investigating the murder of Robert Hamill, to view the area where he was beaten by a loyalist gang after a night out with friends.
The inquiry’s public hearings began on Tuesday, and the victim's relations and inquiry staff viewed the scene, which included a police Land Rover similar to the one alleged to have been parked nearby at the time of the fatal assault.
The family said they were struck by the clear view of the area which was available from inside the vehicle when it was parked at the junction of Woodhouse Street and Market Street, the approximate position of where it was at the time - only a few yards from where Mr Hamill was killed.
The inquiry team described last night's proceedings as a site visit designed to aid its investigations, as opposed to a formal reconstruction of events, and said the vehicle positions were not exact.
But the exercise allowed officials, including inquiry chairman Sir Edwin Jowitt, to view the area as it might have looked on the night in question when the police Land Rover on patrol was carrying four armed officers from the-then Royal Ulster Constabulary.
Relatives examined the view the officers may have had of the scene where Mr Hamill was thought to have been found - which was a spot just yards from the vehicle, on the opposite side of the road, separated only by a traffic island.
Police deny wrongdoing in the case, but the murdered man’s sister, Diane, said: “This brings into sharp perspective how close it all was. . . . They (the inquiry) want the truth.”
The family pointed out two lampposts bordering the site where Mr Hamill was found unconscious on the night of the attack. He died 11 days later in hospital.
The junction in the centre of Portadown was known as a sectarian flash point and the police had been sent to the area to patrol and watch for violence.
The 25-year-old father-of-three was attacked on April 27th, 1997, during a night out with friends at St Patrick’s Hall in Thomas Street, opposite Woodhouse Street.
An inquest was never held into his death, but the inquiry has heard he suffered major head injuries, consistent with a car crash, while a postmortem attributed his death to the attack.
No one has been convicted of murdering Mr Hamill, but the inquiry heard in its opening session that, within days of the murder, police had a list of names for those involved, plus evidence that a police officer had warned one of the killers to dispose of clothes worn in the attack and had briefed him on the investigation.
The police officer denies the allegation, while the police service is also denying wrongdoing in the case.
It was after dark when last night's event got under way at around 7.30pm, and the area was largely quiet, although one member of the public said top the visitors: “You’re bringing up the past.”
PA