Twenty police officers due to appear at a public inquiry into the murder of a Catholic man in Northern Ireland fear their lives are at risk from dissident republicans, a High Court hearing was told today.
Frank O'Donoghue, a barrister acting for the officers in a judicial review in Belfast, said they wanted their identities concealed during the inquiry into Robert Hamill's death because of paramilitary activity and the sensational nature of their evidence.
They are due to appear at the inquiry into the battering to death of 25-year-old Mr Hamill in Portadown, Co Armagh, in April 1997 at the hands of loyalists.
Witnesses claimed armed RUC officers were nearby in a Land Rover but failed to act.
Mr O'Donoghue told the High Court in Belfast: "To bring them [the officers] back in 2006 in these very public and controversial circumstances against the background of public concern about the facts in this case, that in itself obviously increases the risks to these persons."
A public inquiry was due to get under way next month into the killing but was delayed after legal representatives said they would appeal against a decision forcing former police officers to identify themselves.
The inquiry is being chaired by former High Court judge Sir Edwin Jowitt and will assess whether any failure or omission by officers to halt the attack, identify the killers or properly investigate the murder was deliberate or negligent.
PA