An inquiry into the sectarian murder of Robert Hamill has found police officers who were in a vehicle near the attack did not condone or collude with the attackers.

The report, published on Monday, external, highlighted multiple wrongful omissions in the subsequent murder investigation including a failure to properly search the home of a key suspect.

Robert Hamill was 25 when he died after he was beaten by loyalists in Portadown, County Armagh in 1997.

The inquiry concluded in 2009 and its report was completed in 2011 but the findings could not be published until three prosecutions in connection with the case concluded.

The inquiry concluded: “We find that Robert Hamill had been assaulted before the Land Rover officers got out of their vehicle.

“However, they were not aware of the assault and after they had got out of their vehicle, they attempted to restore order.

“They did not in any way condone or collude with attackers.”

Although the inquiry found that the four officers in the police vehicle could not have prevented the murder, the police investigation was flawed – both at the scene and in the days that followed.

“The inquiry found that serving RUC [Royal Ulster Constabulary] officers were guilty of wrongful omissions and that those omissions arose both at the scene and during the initial investigation,” it said.

The inquiry concluded that some of the mistakes in the investigation were negligent, while others were deliberate.

The 290-page report followed an inquiry which cost approximately £33m.

The killing of the young Catholic came during the peace process in Northern Ireland but was a reminder of the depth of the sectarian divisions which still existed.

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