Civil Suit Against RUC for Battering Death Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit source:"J. Dana" RUC TO FACE CIVIL SUIT 11/04/97 16:27 EST The family of a Catholic man battered to death by loyalists are taking private prosecutions against three men released from custody last week. Robert Hamill (29), a father of three from Portadown, was beaten to death in the center of the largely loyalist town on April 27 this year. He had been returning with relatives from a dance at a Catholic hall when he and three others was set upon by the gang. The Northern Ireland authorities said the charges were withdrawn because witness statements against them were no longer available. A solicitor representing the family accused claimed it was a political decision. Witnesses to the killing said a police patrol failed to intervene when Hamill was been beaten to death. The family solicitor, Rosemary Nelson, now believes the three accused men were released because the same RUC officers withdrew their evidence. Three other men accused of murder are still in custody but a decision has not been taken on whether a prosecution will continue. Legal proceedings against the RUC are also to be initiated, the family said. Solicitor Nelson has claimed she has been intimidated by police since she took up the family's case. The family has appealed for political and public support to fund the legal action and to highlight the case. __________________________________________________________ The Irish American Information Service is a non-profit organization provding up-to-the-minute objective coverage of news as it happens in Ireland and the North. Please visit us on the World Wide Web at http://www.iais.org ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytire-11.07.97-02:32:32-19761