I propose to take Questions Nos. 64 and 84 together.
In my reply of 6 October last to a question on the status of the investigation into the murder of Robert Hamill, I outlined in detail the background to the case.
Robert Hamill died following a vicious attack in Portadown on 27 April 1997. RUC officers were in the vicinity at the time. Six people were charged in 1997 with his murder. Only one was convicted on 25 March 1999, but of causing an affray and not of murder. The Independent Commission for Police Complaints supervised the RUC investigation into the actions of the RUC officers on the night in question, following which a report was sent to the DPP. On 30 September the DPP decided not to proceed with the prosecution of any RUC officer.
The RUC file on the case remains open.
Since 1997 the case has been actively pursued with the British authorities both at official and at ministerial level. Following the DPP's decision of 30 September not to prosecute any RUC officer, an urgent report was requested through the Anglo-Irish Secretariat in Belfast. They received a detailed oral report on 19 October and a written report on 22 October, both of which emphasised that an internal RUC disciplinary investigation was ongoing, and that no option, including a public inquiry, had been ruled out.