Hamill trial begins.
BY Dan O'Neill
On the first day of the Robert Hamill trial in Armagh crown court on
Monday 22 February, several witnesses described how they saw the
father of two being kicked to death as four heavily armed RUC
officers in a nearby Land Rover watched on and failed to intervene.
The court heard that Mr Hamill had been in St Patrick's Hall in
Thomas Street with Gregory Girvan, Mr Girvan's wife Joanne - the
victims cousin - and her sister Siobhan.
Girvan told the court that as they made their way home they were
attacked, though Girvan said that all he could remember was waking
up in hospital. His wife Joanne broke down as she started to give
evidence. She said: ``The only thing I can remember is Gregory lying
unconscious and Robert lying there as well. I knew he was hurt as he
didn't get up.''
Ms Girvan who draped herself over her her husband's unconscious body
to protect him, said they had been attacked by a crowd of about 30
people who ``came out of nowhere''.
Her sister Siobhan who went to help Mr Hamill as he lay on the road
said: ``I saw them [the crowd] kicking round his head, shouting `die
you bastard'.'' She added that the crowd stepped back a few feet but
did not disperse after the attack. She then ran to the RUC Land Rover
parked nearby and banged on the side of the vehicle, shouting for
help, but that there was no reply.
The prosecution claimed that the four RUC officers in the Land Rover
parked at the corner of Market Street found themselves in the middle
of clashes between groups of loyalists and nationalists - a claim
denied by witnesses.
Ms Girvan said she had not seen groups of youths fighting or any RUC
in officers getting out of the Land Rover to intervene.
Colin Prunty, who was walking a short distance behind Hamill and
Girvan when they were attacked, said the only RUC he saw was the two
officers who went into the crowd after the attack. He described as
``nonsense'' claims that there were two groups shouting sectarian abuse
at each other before the attack.
Paul Hobson (21) from Deer Park in Portadown is charged with
murdering Robert Hamill.
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