Top PSNI officer brands disgraced ex-constable's actions despicable

Police have commented for the first time about the sentencing of a corrupt officer in connection with one of the most controversial killings in Northern Ireland - the loyalist murder of Robert Hamill.

The actions of an ex-constable who was on duty that night and who rang a suspect just hours later have been branded ''despicable''.

Last Friday, former RUC officer Robert Cecil Atkinson was jailed for a year after finally admitting conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

He was one of four officers on duty when the 25-year-old was attacked by a loyalist mob in Portadown in April 1997.

But it was a phonecall made to the home of a young man who became a murder suspect that found him in the dock.

For years he denied doing anything wrong and continued to serve as a police officer before retiring when the RUC became the PSNI.

It was only in April this year Atkinson finally admitted his guilt.

The judge branding him a disgrace in uniform, revealing he continued to serve as a police officer for years as a criminal.

Now police have added their voice to the condemnation.

In a statement to UTV, Detective Chief Superintendent Eamonn Corrigan, Head of the PSNI's Serious Crime Branch said: ''This man's disgraceful actions fell far below the standard we expect from our officers and staff.

''It is clear that Atkinson deliberately misled an investigation which ultimately became a murder inquiry whilst continuing to work as a police officer, this behaviour was despicable and totally unacceptable.

''We understand that this will undoutedly be difficult for the family of Robert Hamill and our thoughts are with all of them at what we recognise must be an emotional time.

''We, as a Police Service, will not tolerate wrongdoing from any officer or staff and we expect the highest standards and professionalism and integrity from them.''

A public inquiry into alleged wrongdoing by police on the night Robert Hamill was murdered is due to report on its findings. No one has ever been convicted of murder.

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