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Hearing: 28th January 2009, day 10
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PUBLIC INQUIRY INTO THE DEATH OF
ROBERT HAMILL
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Held at:
Interpoint
20-24 York Street
Belfast
on Wednesday, 28th January 2009
commencing at 10.30 am
Day 10
1 Wednesday, 28th January 2009
2 (10.30 am)
3 THE CHAIRMAN: Yes, Mr Underwood?
4 MR UNDERWOOD: Good morning. The last group of witnesses
5 I called, as I said, went to the, as it were, outbreak
6 of the violence. There are, in fact, two more witnesses
7 in that group yet to be called, but, for practical
8 reasons, they are not available at present. So what
9 I propose to do is go on to the next group and call
10 those last two when convenient.
11 The next group of witnesses, as it were, coalesce
12 around Tracey Clarke. They go to one question: what did
13 she see and what was she told? That's important for
14 a number of reasons. She was at the scene, and appears
15 to have seen the violence.
16 Secondly, depending on which of her accounts you
17 accept, she may well have seen who was responsible for
18 the violence. More importantly, she may have seen what
19 the police officers saw, including Mr Atkinson. So she
20 may be able to help then on the important issues of
21 whether the police got out of the Land Rover on time and
22 what they did and on whether Reserve Constable Atkinson
23 tipped off Allister Hanvey.
24 Miss Clarke was also at a gathering at
25 Tracy McAlpine's house after the assault where there may
1
1 well have been discussions about the events of the
2 night, and where Allister Hanvey appears to have been
3 present, and she may well have had admissions from
4 Allister Hanvey which go to the primary issues which the
5 Inquiry is investigating.
6 She was the prime witness against those arrested for
7 murder on 10th May 1997, as I suggested in my primary
8 opening, but she declined to give evidence. That was
9 the primary reason why those murder charges did not
10 proceed. As I suggested, she gives conflicting
11 accounts. She now appears to deny that she saw the
12 violence or anybody participating in it that she can
13 identify and appears to deny that she was told about the
14 conversations between Reserve Constable Atkinson and
15 Mr Hanvey.
16 Clearly, resolving her conflicting accounts will be
17 of fundamental importance to the Inquiry, because it
18 will assist in determining what happened to Mr Hamill
19 and who his assailants were, whether the police got out
20 of the Land Rover and assisted Mr Hamill, whether
21 Mr Atkinson saw Mr Hanvey doing anything, and what is
22 it, if anything, that Mr Atkinson failed to tell
23 detectives that he should have told them when he was
24 debriefed or later on. Did he tip off Allister Hanvey
25 to destroy his clothing, in particular? That may be of
2
1 some importance.
2 This is a witness that can go to the question of
3 whether Mr Hanvey did dispose of his clothing, because
4 at least in one of her statements she says she is the
5 one who bought the clothing.
6 This also goes on the question of clothing to
7 whether an adequate search strategy was adopted in
8 respect of Mr Hanvey. It also goes to whether
9 Miss Clarke's evidence was adequately used. There is in
10 this jurisdiction a provision -- or there was at
11 least -- by which under certain circumstances evidence
12 could be used by way of statement in a criminal trial.
13 Finally, as you will see from the witnesses I am
14 proposing to call around this issue, there is
15 an interesting question of whether further enquiries
16 could and should have been made of Tracey Clarke's
17 family so as to substantiate the evidence which she may
18 have given at the time.
19 Now, to enable a proper evaluation of all those
20 matters, what I am proposing to do is call
21 Tracey Clarke, then call a number of witnesses who had
22 dealings with her, so that in one encapsulation, as it
23 were, the Panel ought to have the chance to evaluate her
24 evidence in the round.
25 I will say a little bit about her before I go
3
1 further. She was Allister Hanvey's sometime girlfriend
2 in 1997. She is now his wife. She was interviewed by
3 the police briefly after the incident and
4 a questionnaire was completed. In that, although she
5 gave some detail, she did not admit to seeing anything
6 of any particular importance.
7 A few days later, she was overheard in the
8 Tae Kwon Do club, of which we will hear quite a lot,
9 talking about what she had seen. She was overheard by
10 a police officer, who made enquiries about who she was
11 and who then brought her to the attention of detectives.
12 The detectives then spoke to her aunt, Andrea McKee, who
13 gave an account to detectives of what she,
14 Tracey Clarke, had been saying, and as a result of that,
15 those detectives then arranged a further interview of
16 Tracey Clarke, as a result of which she gave
17 a statement.
18 In that statement she said she had seen
19 Allister Hanvey, Dean Forbes, Stacey Bridgett,
20 Marc Hobson and Rory Robinson kicking and jumping on
21 Robert Hamill's head. She also said that
22 Allister Hanvey had told her that Robert Atkinson had
23 been good to him and had telephoned him on the morning
24 of the assault and told him to get rid of the clothes he
25 was wearing, and, furthermore, that he kept him in touch
4
1 with the investigation as it progressed.
2 Although it was not recorded in that statement, as
3 I have said, there is reason to believe that
4 Tracey Clarke had bought a silver jacket with orange
5 stripes on the sleeves for Allister Hanvey for Christmas
6 in 1996. That was the jacket Allister Hanvey was
7 wearing on the night.
8 There is every reason to believe that it was got rid
9 of, because, when Allister Hanvey was arrested and
10 interviewed, he claimed the only jacket he used was
11 a black, padded jacket.
12 In due course, Tracey Clarke was seen in
13 consultation by the proposed prosecution counsel,
14 Gordon Kerr, Queen's Counsel, and by Mr Davison of the
15 DPP's office, with a view to determining what her
16 evidence was likely to be like.
17 In that consultation she told those gentlemen she
18 was not going to give evidence. She was later spoken to
19 by telephone by the coroner, Mr Leckey, and said the
20 same thing in respect of a proposed inquest. In neither
21 of those interviews and consultations did she say that
22 what she had told the police was untrue.
23 The other witnesses I propose to call in this
24 section will deal with what Tracey Clarke told them in
25 1997 about the events that she put in her statement, so
5
1 go to her consistency, and, indeed, go to the question
2 of how they could know these things unless she told
3 them, or they deal with the purchase of the jacket, or
4 they shed light on what dealings Robert Atkinson may
5 have had with Allister Hanvey on the night of the
6 assault.
7 What I would now propose to do is call
8 Tracey Clarke, but she has not attended. You signed an
9 order under section 21 of the Inquiries Act yesterday
10 compelling her to attend today, and but for any
11 application that Mr McComb is going to make on her
12 behalf, what I am now going to ask you to do is refer
13 this matter to the High Court so she can be committed to
14 prison. We have the Inquiries Act here. Can I just --
15 THE CHAIRMAN: Yes, please do.
16 MR UNDERWOOD: -- roughly say where we are with it? Can
17 I hand up a Queen's Printers copy of the Act, and copies
18 of the relevant sections I hope are with you as well.
19 If I can start with section 21(1):
20 "The Chairman of an inquiry may by notice require
21 a person to attend at a time and place stated in the
22 notice: (a) to give evidence; ..."
23 That was the form of the notice which you signed and
24 which was served by her solicitor yesterday. I know her
25 solicitors have spoken to her overnight. Staying with
6
1 section 21(4):
2 "A claim by a person that: (a) he is unable to comply
3 with a notice under this section, or (b) it is not
4 reasonable in all the circumstances to require him to
5 comply with such a notice, is to be determined by the
6 chairman of the inquiry, who may revoke or vary the
7 notice on that ground."
8 So permissive there, if and insofar as a claim is
9 made to you, that she can't comply or it is not
10 reasonable to require her to.
11 Absent any revocation or variation, the next
12 position is either section 35 or section 36 of the Act.
13 Under section 35 -- I should say that these are
14 alternative forms of enforcement.
15 Section 35:
16 "A person is guilty of an offence if he fails
17 without reasonable excuse to do anything that he is required
18 to do by a notice under section 21."
19 That, therefore, goes via a criminal route through
20 the Magistrates' Court.
21 If I go then to section 36, the alternative method,
22 section 36(1):
23 "Where a person: (a) fails to comply with, or acts in
24 breach of, a notice under section 19 or 21 or an order
25 made by an inquiry, or (b) threatens to do so, the chairman
7
1 of the inquiry, or after the end of the inquiry the
2 Minister, may certify the matter to the appropriate
3 court.
4 "(2). The court, after hearing any evidence or
5 representations on a matter certified to it under
6 subsection (1), may make such order by way of enforcement
7 or otherwise as it could make if the matter had arisen
8 in proceedings before the court."
9 Then in this section the appropriate court means the
10 High Court.
11 Absent any application for variation or revocation,
12 what I will be asking for is a certification to the
13 High Court. You may recall that as a result of various
14 proceedings that have already taken place with the
15 Inquiry, that the High Court has, as it were,
16 fast-tracked any matters which the Inquiry refers to it.
17 THE CHAIRMAN: Yes.
18 MR UNDERWOOD: One would anticipate a committal application
19 coming on within days. It is for that reason one would
20 choose that course rather than the criminal.
21 THE CHAIRMAN: Yes.
22 MR UNDERWOOD: I have, of course, been very helpfully kept
23 up-to-date by my learned friend Mr McComb. I anticipate
24 he may make an application at this stage.
25 THE CHAIRMAN: Yes, Mr McComb?
8
1 MR McCOMB: I am grateful to my friend, sir. I do, of
2 course, have an application to make. The application
3 which I will make might perhaps better be made in
4 camera, as it were, but subject, of course, to your
5 ruling, sir.
6 THE CHAIRMAN: Unless I am persuaded to the contrary,
7 I shall hear it in camera. I shall decide, when
8 a decision has been made, whether that should be
9 announced in public.
10 MR McCOMB: Thank you, sir.
11 THE CHAIRMAN: The court will have to be cleared. Has the
12 transmission into the witness room been switched off?
13 MR UNDERWOOD: I am told it takes five minutes to change the
14 technology if one needs to go in and out of chambers.
15 May I ask you to rise?
16 THE CHAIRMAN: Yes, certainly.
17 (10.55 am)
18 (In Camera Session)
19 (11.55 am)
20 MR UNDERWOOD: Sir, I hope that Tracey Clarke's
21 non-attendance is temporary. In the interim, what I am
22 proposing to do is take you to materials which I may
23 have put to her, so as at least to give context to those
24 witnesses who will then go on to deal with her
25 credibility.
9
1 The starting point is that she completed
2 a questionnaire on 8th May 1997. We see that at
3 page [70900].
4 The importance of some of the detail of this is not
5 so much what it tells us, as it were, for its own sake,
6 but that it is carried into the statement which she then
7 makes to the police a little later, which she now
8 disavows.
9 She gives her name, then address and date of birth,
10 occupation. You will see it was taken at 8.00 pm on
11 8th May 1997. This is a standard form questionnaire,
12 which was administered to a number of witnesses. It is
13 called a QPF. The standard question is:
14 "Question: You have been identified as being present
15 at Market Street, Portadown on 27th April 1997 at or
16 around the time of a serious assault.
17 "Where were you coming from?
18 Answer: "Coming from the Coach [the Coach Inn, that
19 is] in Banbridge."
20 Question: "Who was with you?"
21 Answer: "Tracy McAlpine, Pauline Newell,
22 Kelly Lavery, Vicky Clayton", and a person whose name we
23 have expunged, because we have not been able to get in
24 touch with them and so have not given them the chance to
25 apply for anonymity:
10
1 Question: "Who else was in the vicinity (describe
2 the location in relation to themselves and their account
3 of movement through town centre)?"
4 Answer: "Got off Coach bus and walked up town. Saw
5 police Land Rover at the Halifax. Walked up to
6 Mandarin House. Heard shouting coming from town centre
7 and saw two persons lying in the road at junction of
8 Thomas Street/Market Street."
9 Question: "Did you see an assault in Market Street?
10 If so, give details."
11 Answer: "No."
12 Question: "If travelled from Banbridge, who else
13 travelled to Portadown with you?"
14 Answer: "As above."
15 Question: "What were you wearing on the night in
16 question?"
17 She gives that information. Then:
18 Question: "Is there anything else you would like to
19 add?"
20 Answer: "No."
21 Her description is then put down there. The
22 completing officer's details are Detective
23 Constable McAteer. No statement recorded.
24 Then:
25 "Party at house:"
11
1 She gives names:
2 "Tracy McAlpine.
3 "Pauline Newell.
4 "Kelly Lavery.
5 "Allister Hanvey."
6 I should say that at no stage has Tracey Clarke ever
7 disavowed the contents of this in which she puts
8 Allister Hanvey at the party, an assertion which was
9 later denied by Mr Hanvey:
10 "P46.
11 "'Fonzy'.
12 "Denis.
13 "Iain Carville.
14 "Chris Henderson.
15 "Ian Mahood.
16 "[Blank].
17 "Stephen Bloomer.
18 "P51.
19 "Lisa Hobson.
20 "Dean Forbes.
21 "Vicky Clayton."
22 That's all she said to DC McAteer on 8th May. As
23 I have said, what then happened is she was overheard
24 talking in the Tae Kwon Do club gym, brought to the
25 attention of detectives and DC McAteer interviewed her
12
1 again late in the evening of 9th May, extending into the
2 early hours of 10th May 1997. A statement was recorded,
3 which we find at page [17327].
4 She is described in this as Witness A, because there
5 were concerns about intimidation. There is the standard
6 declaration at the top, and the date. You will see it
7 is taken by Mr McAteer again. What she says is:
8 "On Saturday 26 April 1997 I went to the disco
9 at the Coach in Banbridge. I was with Shelley Liggett
10 who works with me in the part time job I do at the
11 Mandarin House Chinese restaurant, West Street,
12 Portadown. We got a taxi at about 10.45 pm to go to
13 Banbridge. I met up with my friends Pauline Newell,
14 Tracy McAlpine, Kelly Lavery, Clara Glover,
15 Vicky Clayton. Along with my friends I travelled back
16 to Portadown on the bus that leaves at 1.15 am."
17 Pausing there, no significant inconsistency between
18 what she says there and what she said in that QPF:
19 "I don't remember how many of us there was in the
20 company but a crowd of fellows joined up with us.
21 Pauline Newell went into Boss Hoggs and got chips and we
22 waited for her. We walked up as far as the
23 Mandarin House in West Street."
24 Again that's completely consistent with what she
25 said in the QPF:
13
1 "I think at that stage the other persons with me
2 were Pauline Newell, Tracy McAlpine, Kelly Lavery,
3 Shelley Liggett and a fellow called Jason. I would say
4 that it was about 1.45 am approx when we were in
5 West Street as the bus got in at around 1.30 am. Around
6 this time we heard shouting coming from the Main Street.
7 I can't remember what was said, but it was something
8 like, 'Fight, fight'."
9 Again consistent with the QPF. Here is where it
10 diverges:
11 "We all ran down to see what was happening. When we
12 got as far as the Church I could see a crowd at the
13 junction of Thomas Street/Market Street. I met up with
14 Stephen Bloomer at Poundstretcher and I just sat down
15 beside him. I saw two people lying on the street, one
16 was near the centre of the road and the other was near
17 the footpath close to Eastwoods."
18 Again no inconsistency between that and the QPF in
19 relation to seeing people lying on the street. The
20 extra details such as, "I met up with Stephen Bloomer",
21 you may think adds verisimilitude to this, but that's
22 something she will have to deal with:
23 "The person I saw in the middle of the road
24 I thought was dead as he was not moving. It was at this
25 time I saw a number of persons gathered around the
14
1 person lying in the centre of the road. These persons
2 were kicking the person on the ground around the head
3 and body. I saw them jump on the person on the ground.
4 They jumped all over him and kicked him. I saw the
5 persons who were doing this and I can identify them as
6 (1) Dean Forbes, (2) Allister Hanvey, (3)
7 Stacey Bridgett, (4) 'Muck', (5) Rory Robinson. The
8 other person lying near Eastwoods was being helped by
9 Michelle Jamieson but I saw persons run up and kick him
10 around the head and body and Michelle was telling them
11 to stop."
12 Again, detail we find nowhere else:
13 "At that time I saw a number of police behind the
14 crowd who were attacking the two persons lying on the
15 ground. As far as I could see the police were not
16 doing much to stop what was happening."
17 The significance of that is that, as best one can
18 understand it, her position at the moment is that the
19 police forced her to write this statement.
20 This, as I say, is 9th and 10th May 1997, at the
21 point at which a negligence complaint had been made
22 against the police to the effect they didn't get out of
23 the Land Rover and didn't help. No doubt she will be
24 able to explain to you why they forced her to say
25 something that was critical of them at this stage:
15
1 "The next thing I remember was more police arrived
2 and pushed the crowd back. The ambulance arrived and
3 took the two persons who had been attacked by the crowd
4 away. The Police then made us move up the street to the
5 to the Church. They later moved us up to West Street."
6 We know all of that to be consistent with other
7 evidence:
8 "I asked him if the two men who had been kicked were
9 they okay and he shook his head. We then went on to
10 the party at Tracy McAlpine's house at [blank]. I'm not
11 sure of the name of the new estate. There was a good
12 crowd at the party and everybody was discussing what
13 happened in the town centre and some of the people who
14 had been involved appeared to be happy about what they
15 had done."
16 Again, if the police had put that into the mouth of
17 a primary witness, then that's the police, as it were,
18 giving themselves an obligation to go and interview
19 those people about those events:
20 "I remember they mentioned the name of one of them
21 as Hamill but I can't remember what exactly was said.
22 I went home the next day and told my parents what had
23 happened ..."
24 I am going to take you in a bit to statements from
25 the parents, who say just that:
16
1 "... and about the two men being attacked in the
2 town centre and that my ex boyfriend Allister Hanvey was
3 involved in it. I spoke to Allister Hanvey on the
4 Tuesday and I told him about what I had seen and that
5 I had told the Police about everything and that he was
6 in deep trouble. He said he would meet me after work
7 and I met him outside my house at about 11.05 pm. He
8 wanted to know what I had told the Police and as I had
9 not been seen by the Police I made up a few things to
10 annoy him."
11 Interesting thing to invent, you may think:
12 "I remember Robbie Atkinson's name coming up and
13 Allister said that Robbie Atkinson had been very good to
14 him because on the Sunday morning after the incident
15 in the town centre he rang him at about 8.00 am and
16 told him to get rid of the clothes he was wearing the
17 previous night."
18 No doubt, when she comes, Miss Clarke will tell you
19 why the police required her to invent that and when she
20 is doing it, she will no doubt tell you how she knew
21 about that telephone call, when we know that the police
22 were, in fact, first informed of it by this, then sought
23 confirmation of it, and, on 16th May, first learned that
24 that was true:
25 "Since then Allister has contacted me on numerous
17
1 occasions and he keeps asking me what I have said to the
2 Police. He also told me that Robbie Atkinson was
3 ringing him every day to keep him up to date with the
4 Police investigation. On Thursday of last week
5 Allister's mother rang my work to speak to me but I was
6 off that day and I didn't speak to her. I spoke to
7 Allister Hanvey yesterday and I asked him what he did to
8 the person that they attacked in the centre of Portadown
9 who is now dead. Allister said he jumped on his head
10 and kicked his head. I told him that is how he got the
11 fractured skull, and he said 'He doesn't have
12 a fractured skull anymore'."
13 It was on the strength of that witness statement
14 that the gentlemen she mentioned were arrested and kept
15 detained for six months.
16 As I say, I am proposing to take you to a number of
17 other documents that surround this. I also have the
18 coroner, Mr Leckey, to whom Tracey Clarke spoke by
19 telephone a while after this, and he is available now.
20 I wonder if it would be convenient if I called him at
21 this stage?
22 THE CHAIRMAN: Yes, of course.
23 MR UNDERWOOD: Mr Leckey, please.
24 MR JOHN LAND LECKEY (sworn)
25
18
1 Examination by MR UNDERWOOD
2 MR UNDERWOOD: Good morning, Mr Leckey.
3 A. Good morning.
4 Q. Would you give us your full names, please?
5 A. John Land Leckey.
6 Q. Thank you for coming at a time that's of our convenience
7 rather than yours. It is much appreciated.
8 Can I take you to a witness statement you signed for
9 us, please?
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. It is at page [80646] and will appear on the screen.
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. Can I simply ask for this to be flicked through so we
14 can identify it is yours?
15 A. Yes, that is mine.
16 Q. Is it true?
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. Thank you. There are only a few matters I want to ask
19 you about.
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. We know from it that you were the Coroner for
22 Greater Belfast in April 1997?
23 A. That is correct.
24 Q. You remain that, I think.
25 A. Well, since then, Northern Ireland has become a single
19
1 coroner's district, so my official title now is Senior
2 Coroner for Northern Ireland, but at that time I was the
3 Coroner for Greater Belfast.
4 Q. Thank you very much. Looking at page [80649], if we
5 just pick up paragraphs 11 and 12 --
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. -- what this is about is Detective Inspector Irwin was
8 in touch with you about an inquest that may or may not
9 have arisen out of the death of Robert Hamill.
10 A. That is correct.
11 Q. At paragraph 12, you say he told you that Tracey Clarke
12 and Timothy Jameson, who were then Witness A and
13 Witness B, were important witnesses who did not wish to
14 give evidence.
15 Can I just ask you about the system, the
16 relationship with the police and how you get your
17 evidence as a coroner --
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. -- or how you got your evidence in 1997?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. Did you have Coroner's Officers?
22 A. No. The last record of a Coroner's Officer was back in
23 the 1960s, and although there is power under the
24 coroners legislation for the Lord Chancellor to appoint
25 Coroner's Officers, that has never happened.
20
1 Q. So you were, and are, reliant on police officers in
2 general?
3 A. That's correct, and that by and large remains the
4 present position.
5 Q. So in practical terms if, let's say, there is
6 a suspicious death which is being investigated by the
7 police, are you, as it were, in liaison with the
8 investigating officer --
9 A. That is correct.
10 Q. -- and reliant on the investigating officer for your
11 information?
12 A. That is correct. Could I just clarify something, if
13 I may?
14 Q. Please.
15 A. That because of developments in case law, disclosure of
16 information that the police have as a consequence of
17 their investigation is much different now than it was
18 back at the time Mr Hamill was murdered.
19 Q. Different and better, or worse?
20 A. Well, better, and there have been a number of cases in
21 the House of Lords which provide that the police really
22 should provide full disclosure to the coroner.
23 Q. I see.
24 A. Back in 1997, disclosure was always a contentious issue,
25 and was quite restricted.
21
1 Q. Right. If we go to page [80651], you tell us at
2 paragraph 18 that you were faced with a very difficult
3 dilemma --
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. -- about, as it were, a simplified inquest, concealing
6 the evidence of these two witnesses or taking
7 a different course.
8 A. That's correct.
9 Q. Can you just help us with what an inquest was directed
10 to do in 1997? Was it a full investigation of the cause
11 of a death, including who did it, or what?
12 A. Well, back at that time, the view would have been taken,
13 I think, by most lawyers, that the parameters of
14 a coroner's inquest were quite narrow: who the deceased
15 was, and how, when and where they came by their death.
16 Also, Mr Hamill was murdered before the
17 incorporation of the Human Rights Act on
18 2nd October 2000. Probably most lawyers would have
19 interpreted the scope of an inquest as being quite
20 a narrow one.
21 Q. Okay.
22 A. But that has changed --
23 Q. Right.
24 A. -- following the decision of Lord Bingham in the Jordan
25 case, but back then, the view was taken it would be
22
1 a narrow scope.
2 Q. We know that you took legal advice.
3 A. That's correct.
4 Q. Then if we look at paragraph 19, we see in respect of
5 the preparedness or otherwise of Tracey Clarke and
6 Timothy Jameson to give evidence --
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. -- your counsel essentially said you had to satisfy
9 yourself about it rather than rely on the police.
10 A. That is absolutely correct, and that would have been my
11 view irrespective of what counsel advised.
12 Q. So as a consequence of that, I think you spoke by
13 telephone to both of those.
14 A. That's correct. That did not happen, as I am sure you
15 are aware, on the same day.
16 Q. No.
17 A. There was really no firm arrangement when each of them
18 would telephone me, but there was an arrangement that
19 I would receive a telephone call from each.
20 Q. Right. If we go over to paragraph 20 on page [80652],
21 we see that you did that by liaison with DI Irwin.
22 A. That is correct.
23 Q. Then if we look at paragraph 21, in fact, you spoke to
24 Tracey Clarke on 9th November 1999 --
25 A. Yes.
23
1 Q. -- and made an attendance note, which we find at
2 page [00270]. Can we turn to that page on the screen?
3 I am going to read this into the transcript and then ask
4 you some more about it, if I may.
5 A. That's fine.
6 Q. "Attendance - Robert Hamill deceased - 9.11.99.
7 "One of the witnesses referred to by a code letter
8 (her name is Tracey Clarke) telephoned me this morning
9 at the request of DI Irwin. She said that she knew
10 I was planning to hold an inquest and was very concerned
11 about either giving evidence in person or the contents
12 of her statement being read out in court."
13 Pausing there, would you have had her statement by
14 that stage, her police statement?
15 A. I did.
16 Q. "When she spoke to me, she was very tearful and I was
17 completely satisfied that she was genuine. She said
18 that she had been threatened on a number of occasions by
19 Loyalists, and as a result she had had to leave
20 Portadown. She now has a house in Belfast and a new
21 career in the civil service. She rarely returns to
22 Portadown although her mother still lives there. She
23 told me that even reading out her statement in court
24 with her being referred to by a code letter would
25 identify her. If that happened, she would have to leave
24
1 her present address and possibly her present employment.
2 Those who threatened her were known to her. She has no
3 doubts at all that if she was involved in the inquest in
4 any way she would be in real danger from Loyalist
5 paramilitaries. I said that I would do nothing that
6 would place her in jeopardy and I sought to reassure her
7 that I would not call her as a witness or read out her
8 statement in court. She seemed extremely relieved when
9 I told her this."
10 Is that an accurate reflection of the discussion?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. Going back to your statement at [80652], at paragraph 22
13 you tell us there that your assessment was that she was
14 frightened and tearful, but genuine, and did not express
15 any reservations about the accuracy of her witness
16 statement.
17 A. Just tell me which paragraph you are on?
18 Q. I am on page [80652].
19 A. Yes, I have [80652], and it is paragraph?
20 Q. Paragraph 22. It is entirely my fault:
21 "Having spoken to her, my assessment was that
22 Tracey Clarke was frightened for her personal safety
23 and tearful, but genuine. She did not express any
24 reservations about the accuracy of her witness
25 statement."
25
1 A. That's correct.
2 Q. "It seemed to me that were it not for the fears for her
3 personal safety, she would have been prepared to give
4 evidence at an inquest. In fact, speaking to her really
5 strengthened my view as to how compelling her evidence
6 was."
7 A. That's correct.
8 Q. So did she give you any reason whatever to believe that
9 what she had said in her witness statement was false?
10 A. No. I was absolutely convinced that this, first of all,
11 was compelling evidence of what happened, and that she
12 gave no indication that what she said had been put into
13 her mouth by the police or made up or anything of that
14 nature. I was convinced that it was truthful.
15 Q. So that the Panel can give some context to your views --
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. -- how long had you been a coroner at that point?
18 A. Well, I had been appointed Deputy Coroner in 1985 and
19 full-time coroner for the Greater Belfast district from
20 the beginning of 1992. So I had been in post five, six
21 years on a full-time basis.
22 Q. So you had been conducting inquests for at least
23 12 years by then?
24 A. Yes, and, also, in that time I had seen and read a lot
25 of statements.
26
1 Q. What was your occupation before you came a coroner?
2 A. I was a solicitor in private practice.
3 Q. I also need to deal with the Timothy Jameson question.
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. Can I take you over to [80653]?
6 THE CHAIRMAN: Just before you do, was the coroner's post
7 a full-time occupation?
8 A. Yes, it was.
9 MR UNDERWOOD: If I go to paragraphs 24 through to 26 --
10 A. Uh-huh.
11 Q. -- you tell us that there were arrangements then made
12 for Timothy Jameson to contact you --
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. -- and that you did indeed have a telephone call with
15 him, and there is an attendance note for that. We
16 should jump to that. It is at page [00358]. Again, let
17 me read it out. This is an attendance note of
18 6th January 2000:
19 "One of the witnesses referred to by a code letter
20 (Mr Jameson) telephoned me today. He was very
21 non-committal about his specific reasons for not wanting
22 to give evidence. He just kept repeating that he did
23 not want to be involved in any way. Also, he intimated
24 that not all the statement he had made originally was
25 correct. He said that words had been put into his mouth
27
1 by the police.
2 "I said that if that was so, I was able to arrange
3 for him to make a new statement, but he merely repeated
4 that he did not want to be involved. He said that if he
5 did make a new statement, it would merely take the form
6 that he could remember nothing about the incident.
7 I pressed him on a number of times to be more precise
8 about his reasons for not wanting to give evidence and
9 I made the point that very few people wanted to be
10 involved in court proceedings. In the end, he said that
11 he would have fears for his own safety.
12 "Also, he believed that if the statement he made
13 originally was read out with him being referred to by
14 a code letter, eg Mr X, people would be able to identify
15 him. He said he is about to return to Scotland and will
16 not be back in Northern Ireland until next Christmas."
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. Going back to [80653], at paragraphs 25 and 26, you tell
19 us that you just didn't believe that.
20 A. No, I didn't. Looking back quite a number of years
21 after the event, that is still my strong recollection of
22 how he was. Morose and uncooperative, I believe sums up
23 accurately how he was on that occasion.
24 MR UNDERWOOD: Thank you very much. That sums up all I have
25 for you.
28
1 A. Thank you.
2 Cross-examination by MR DALY
3 MR DALY: Sorry, Mr Leckey. There is just one matter.
4 You have given evidence that you spoke directly with
5 Miss Clarke and Mr Jameson.
6 A. That's correct.
7 Q. Was that a normal practice, that you would speak
8 directly with potential witnesses?
9 A. Normally it is not necessary to speak to the witnesses
10 face-to-face or by telephone before an inquest hearing.
11 The reason that I did have personal contact on this
12 occasion was that Detective Inspector Irwin had flagged
13 up that both of them did not want to give evidence at
14 the inquest.
15 The reason that I then did make arrangements to
16 speak to them was, first of all, I agreed entirely with
17 counsel's advice to me that I needed to satisfy myself
18 that this indeed was their view, and, also, in those
19 circumstances, speaking to them perhaps would give me
20 a flavour of something about them personally that the
21 bare statement would not.
22 Normally, as I said, this isn't necessary, but it
23 was of value on this occasion, and it really reinforced
24 the view I had taken, looking at each statement, that
25 what they said in their statement was accurate and
29
1 truthful, and there were other reasons why they then
2 said, if it came to the bit, they would retract the
3 statement that they had made originally.
4 MR DALY: Thanks very much.
5 MR UNDERWOOD: Nothing arising.
6 Cross-examination by MR O'CONNOR
7 MR O'CONNOR: Just one matter.
8 Mr Leckey, you mentioned that you took legal
9 advice -- this is paragraph 17 -- from a senior counsel
10 of the Northern Ireland Bar.
11 A. That's correct.
12 Q. On that basis then, unusually you spoke with both of
13 these witnesses?
14 A. That's correct.
15 Q. Having spoken to them, did you agree then with the
16 information given to you by Detective Inspector Irwin?
17 Did you agree with his view?
18 A. Well, the view that he had put forward to me was that
19 their evidence was reliable evidence and was
20 an important part of the police investigation into the
21 circumstances that led to the death of Mr Hamill.
22 He never said to me, "Look, these two witnesses have
23 made statements, but I have reservations about the
24 accuracy of what they said". There was no such
25 indication from him, and I believe that his view was
30
1 this was good evidence.
2 Q. In every other way in relation to Detective Inspector
3 Irwin, was he cooperative with any of your requests?
4 A. Oh, he was, yes, yes.
5 MR O'CONNOR: Thank you.
6 Cross-examination by MR BERRY
7 MR BERRY: Just a number of things, Mr Leckey.
8 My name is Greg Berry. A few of these may be
9 obvious things to you, but I would like you to put them
10 on the record, if you can.
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. Now, the note that you took during your telephone
13 conversation with Tracey Clarke, which you have been
14 referred to, which is page [00270] -- if we could have
15 that up, please -- is it fair to say you were trying to
16 take as full and accurate a note as possible of that
17 conversation?
18 A. Yes. I made that note immediately after the termination
19 of our phone call.
20 Q. Presumably you would do that as a matter of course?
21 A. Yes, that's correct.
22 Q. The obvious reason for that, presumably, is because it
23 is potentially an important conversation?
24 A. Yes. I realised the importance of that conversation at
25 the time, so I was careful to be as accurate as possible
31
1 in the note I made.
2 Q. Yes. Now during the course of that conversation,
3 presumably you would have wished to put Tracey Clarke,
4 or indeed anyone else at the other end of the phone, at
5 their ease?
6 A. Yes, certainly.
7 Q. There are a number of reasons presumably for that, such
8 as it allows you to assess them better in terms of the
9 account?
10 A. That's correct.
11 Q. To assess their truthfulness in terms of what they are
12 telling you?
13 A. I like to think that my -- I wasn't being aggressive to
14 her or trying to browbeat her in any way. I was merely
15 listening to what she was telling me.
16 Q. You would have been conscious of trying to put her at
17 her ease so that she felt she could confide in you in
18 a way --
19 A. That's correct.
20 Q. -- and basically tell you her account in a candid
21 fashion?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. You have already indicated you assessed her account and
24 the information in her statement as truthful, I think?
25 A. Absolutely.
32
1 Q. Now, just for the purpose of clarity, when you refer to
2 her statement in this telephone note, you are referring
3 to her statement of police, I think it is dated
4 10th May 1997. I think it is page [31616]. Perhaps
5 that could be brought up and you could identify that
6 just so we are sure we are talking about the same thing.
7 If that could just --
8 A. There are a number of pages of her statement.
9 Q. If you would just scan through it to the extent that you
10 are satisfied that's the document you are talking about
11 and the telephone attendance.
12 A. Yes, that is the statement. I have a copy with me. It
13 is in a slightly different format, but that is the
14 statement.
15 Q. There was never any suggestion by her that any aspect of
16 that statement was false?
17 A. No.
18 Q. There was never any suggestion that she was under the
19 influence of Andrea McKee when she made that statement?
20 A. There was no suggestion that she was being influenced by
21 anyone.
22 Q. Yes.
23 A. The sense I got was that she was phoning me alone, that
24 she wasn't in the company of anyone else.
25 Q. You have used the term "anyone". There was no
33
1 suggestion of someone putting words in her mouth --
2 A. Absolutely not.
3 Q. -- or anything to that effect?
4 A. No, no.
5 MR BERRY: Thank you very much.
6 THE CHAIRMAN: Yes?
7 Cross-examination by MR ATCHISON
8 MR ATCHISON: I wonder if I might raise a matter?
9 In your experience, would you agree it is easier to
10 assess an individual face-to-face?
11 A. I do.
12 Q. It is very difficult to assess over the telephone
13 whether an individual is, in fact, telling the truth?
14 A. Oh, yes. I agree entirely with you. It is much better
15 face-to-face.
16 Q. Am I right that this was a fairly concise telephone
17 conversation?
18 A. Oh, yes. It didn't last any real length of time. My
19 recollection, looking back, is that it would not have
20 lasted more than perhaps five minutes.
21 Q. Again, am I right that this was not a contemporaneous
22 note?
23 A. Immediately after the conversation ended, I then
24 dictated the attendance note.
25 Q. Am I right again, Mr Leckey, that at the time you had no
34
1 reason to believe that there was any suggestion that
2 Miss Clarke had invented any evidence?
3 A. Absolutely not.
4 Q. So it would be fair to say that at the time when the
5 telephone call was conducted, you had no reason to be
6 assessing whether Miss Clarke's evidence was true or
7 not?
8 A. That is correct, but my assessment was, having read the
9 statement and the detail in it and having heard her
10 speak to me on the telephone, I assessed her as being
11 truthful in the sense that her evidence was truthful.
12 Q. Would it be fair to say that your main emphasis was to
13 determine whether or not you could allay Miss Clarke's
14 fears about giving evidence as opposed to assessing
15 whether it is true or not?
16 A. Absolutely. I explained to her that at an inquest
17 a witness may apply to be referred to by a code letter
18 and to be screened from the public gaze.
19 Q. Yes.
20 A. But she felt that if she gave her evidence, being
21 anonymised and being screened would not prevent those
22 who were threatening her from identifying her.
23 MR ATCHISON: Thank you very much.
24 Cross-examination by MR MALLON
25 MR MALLON: Mr Chairman, might I ask one question?
35
1 Do you know where her telephone call was coming
2 from?
3 A. No.
4 Q. Do you know whether it was her own house or someone
5 else's?
6 A. No, I have no idea.
7 MR MALLON: Thank you.
8 MR UNDERWOOD: Nothing arising, thank you.
9 THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you very much.
10 MR UNDERWOOD: Thank you, Mr Leckey.
11 (The witness withdrew)
12 MR UNDERWOOD: With your leave, I will resume my course of
13 taking you to documents I would take Tracey Clarke to.
14 We have seen the QPF that was administered. We have
15 seen the witness statement that she made. Can I take
16 you to a witness statement made to the police by her
17 mother, which we can find at page [14896]?
18 This is a lady whom the Inquiry sought to call, but
19 is very unwell. We have redacted her name. What she
20 says in this statement, which was taken on
21 1st November 2000, was:
22 "I am the mother of Tracey Clarke. During 1997
23 Tracey lived with me at ... also in 1997, my brother
24 Michael McKee and his wife Andrea lived across the
25 square at ..."
36
1 Obviously we have heard of Andrea McKee. We see now
2 the relationship:
3 "I can recall during 1997 a particular incident
4 occurred in Portadown when Robert Hamill was beaten up.
5 I remember the Sunday after this Tracey had been to the
6 Coach that Saturday night and on the Sunday morning
7 I had the news on, on the radio. It was around
8 12 midday when the news was on and I remember Tracey
9 turning the radio up at the news. She told me she had
10 seen an awful fight in the town last night. Her father
11 Jim Murray was also present."
12 You will be hearing from him.
13 If I skip a sentence:
14 "She said the ambulance was there and she thought
15 the fellow was dead because they had a blanket over his
16 head. She didn't mention the names of anyone involved
17 in the fight. Allister Hanvey, a boy from [blank] had
18 been going out with Tracey however I know on
19 that Saturday night Tracey didn't go to the Coach with
20 him but I think they both met up at a party some time
21 later on the Saturday night after this fight in
22 Portadown."
23 Again, that's what she said in her witness statement
24 to the police, and, again, if that statement is false,
25 Miss Clarke is going to have to explain how her mother
37
1 got that information:
2 "I don't know where this party was. I think they
3 had fallen out 4 or 5 days before that weekend.
4 On that Sunday night Allister Hanvey called for Tracey
5 and they went out. I said earlier that I didn't know
6 where they went but on thinking about it now I
7 believe this was the night they spent together at
8 Michael and Andrea McKee's. Michael and Andrea had
9 a bedroom for Tracey in their house and they were very
10 close."
11 Skipping a sentence:
12 "Over the first few days Tracey didn't mention much
13 about the fight and they, Tracey and Allister, were
14 going out together. A short time after this, Allister
15 and Tracey fell out again."
16 Skipping a sentence, we go down:
17 "After the first few days Tracey started to talk to
18 us, that's me and her stepdad Jim Murray, about the
19 fight in Portadown and what went on. She told us that
20 Robbie Atkinson, who I know was a policeman in
21 Portadown, had told Allister to burn his coat."
22 Again, it is difficult to see why her mother would
23 be in possession of that information unless it had come
24 from Tracey Clarke herself. Again, no doubt, she will
25 tell us when she comes:
38
1 "Tracey was saying, 'Imagine telling him to burn
2 that good silver coat'. It cost Tracey £175.00 out of
3 Paranoid in High Street Mall. I don't know if it was in
4 the Mall in 1997. Tracey knew a girl who worked in
5 Paranoid and she had left the jacket over and Tracey was
6 paying weekly out of her pay so that Allister could have
7 it by Christmas 1996. This was a bright silver coat
8 with a black waistband and bright silver arms. Although
9 Tracey was annoyed at the coat having to be burnt and
10 went on a bit about this, she also said that Robbie had
11 told him (that's Allister) to burn everything - trousers,
12 shirts, the lot. Tracey said that Allister had burned
13 the clothes and that his mother helped him to do this."
14 Again, no doubt Tracey Clarke can tell you how her
15 mother would be inventing silver jackets and Allister
16 being told by Robbie Atkinson to burn them consistently
17 with the police statement, if that's false:
18 "Tracey said she had been speaking to
19 Robbie Atkinson, who was on duty in Portadown that
20 night, and was actually speaking to him at the time of
21 the fight ..."
22 Again, Tracey Clarke would have known that
23 Robbie Atkinson was on duty that night. Difficult to
24 see how her mother might have known that unless
25 Tracey Clarke had told her:
39
1 "... she was standing with him at the back of the
2 landrover. Tracey knew Robert Atkinson from the
3 Tae Kwon Do club where Robbie's daughter attended. I'm
4 not sure when Robbie Atkinson told Allister Hanvey to
5 burn his clothes but I got the impression from Tracey
6 that Robbie told him that night after the fight. After
7 the fight Tracey told us she went to a party."
8 Again this is, of course, consistent with the
9 witness statement.
10 "She told us that Allister went to the same party
11 and Tracey got a taxi home. I don't know what party she
12 went to although police have mentioned Tracy McAlpine
13 and this could have been the party she went to. On the
14 day that Robert Hamill died I phoned Going Places
15 and told Tracey. She later told me that she phoned
16 Elizabeth Hanvey and told her that Hamill was dead."
17 Interesting detail. If the witness statement is
18 false, why would she be doing that is a question I will
19 be putting to her.
20 "She said Elizabeth told her, 'That throws
21 a different light on things'. Some time around this
22 time a Detective called John McAteer called."
23 He, you will recall, is the gentleman who took both
24 the questionnaire and the witness statement:
25 "I can't remember exactly when this was. He talked
40
1 to Tracey although I don't think he got much sense out
2 of her. Although I can't be sure of when McAteer
3 called, I know that Allister Hanvey called with Tracey
4 on a Friday and took her out to lunch. Tracey said that
5 she asked Allister what exactly happened that night and
6 Allister told her everything."
7 Again if the witness statement to the police is
8 false and Allister Hanvey was not involved and did not
9 know anything, it is difficult to see at the moment how
10 Tracey Clarke could have been telling her mother this,
11 and no doubt again that's something she can tell you:
12 "It was that same night that Andrea McKee,
13 Michael McKee and Tracey went to Portadown police
14 station."
15 We know that's 9th May:
16 "They went to make a statement that night and
17 I remember John McAteer phoning that day to ask me to
18 get Tracey up to make a statement, and as she was
19 working in the Chinese restaurant at I think
20 West Street, I phoned the Tae Kwon Do club ... to get
21 Michael and Andrea McKee to collect her after work as
22 she finished at 10.30 pm and take her to the police
23 station. That night Michael came down and sat with me
24 after he had dropped them off at the police station."
25 Skipping a sentence:
41
1 "I phoned up a couple of times to see how she was
2 doing and I spoke to John McAteer who told me she was
3 doing all right and her aunt Andrea was with her."
4 Just pausing there, although, in common with every
5 other person who is represented by the same solicitor,
6 Mr Monteith, Tracey Clarke has declined to sign the
7 witness statement, you saw four of those witnesses
8 yesterday who you may think were perfectly happy with
9 their witness statements as soon as they got the
10 opportunity in the witness box to adopt them.
11 In interview with the Inquiry Tracey Clarke has told
12 us that essentially the police bullied her. That
13 I presume is an allegation against Mr McAteer. Here you
14 see the mother saying there is the mother and Mr McAteer
15 in touch, apparently solicitous for the welfare of
16 Tracey Clarke:
17 "They were dropped off later but I don't know who
18 left them home. Tracey was saying she told the truth
19 and she was agitated."
20 Unless this is false, then, of course, the statement
21 to the police is true:
22 "I think the following morning the Hanveys rang my
23 home telephone number ... and Tracey spoke to them. I think
24 Tracey said it was Elizabeth. She told Tracey that
25 Allister was arrested this morning. Tracey started
42
1 crying and I told her to go to work to keep herself
2 occupied."
3 So there you have the mother's recollection, as it
4 were, of the effect on Tracey of the consequences of her
5 making the witness statement:
6 "I'm not aware of anyone putting pressure on Tracey
7 but her friends stopped talking to her and I think she
8 thought we might have to move out of [the area] and she
9 wouldn't want this to happen."
10 So two consequences visiting Tracey Clarke as shown
11 by her mother:
12 "I have overheard Michael talking to someone (that's
13 Michael my brother) about covering for Robbie Atkinson
14 and that Michael was saying he wished Robert would stop
15 telling Eleanor everything, as Eleanor was going up to
16 the club and telling Andrea McKee everything."
17 Then if I go down to the bottom of the page, final
18 line:
19 "I know that Tracey sent", overleaf [14900],
20 "Allister a birthday card when he was in prison and I
21 heard from Andrea McKee that Elizabeth Hanvey got very
22 annoyed at this because Tracey's statement put him
23 there."
24 Jumping a sentence:
25 "After Allister Hanvey went to prison a policewoman ...
43
1 called with us on a number of occasions to keep us
2 updated and reassure us and, if necessary, get us moved,
3 if needed, although we were never under threat and were
4 never intimidated."
5 There you have some concept -- and that's the best
6 evidence we are going to get from this lady -- of what
7 Tracey Clarke was telling her and what happened after
8 the statement was made, and the relationship between the
9 police and Tracey Clarke, and, of course, in due course,
10 when you see her, you will be determining whether the
11 police bullied her or, on the contrary, did what they
12 could to get her evidence out.
13 If we go to page [05119], we see an action record
14 print. This is part of the investigation system. The
15 final paragraph says:
16 on 6th March 2001 AM5 and AM6 were shown to
17 [blank].
18 That is Tracey's Clarke's mother:
19 "She stated that the jacket looked similar to the
20 one Allister Hanvey had. However, she thought the one
21 Allister had was slightly shorter and had black cuffs
22 and a black waistband. She can't recall orange stripes
23 on the sleeves."
24 AM5 and AM6 are at page [70098] and over. What we
25 see on [70099], top right-hand corner, is a silver
44
1 sports jacket. £24.00 is the wholesale price. If we go
2 over the page again to [70100], there it is enlarged.
3 This is taken from a catalogue. We will see later on
4 evidence this was sold by -- this was a catalogue of
5 a supplier that supplied Paranoid Clothing. We will
6 hear evidence about the possibility at the very lowest
7 that a jacket of this type was supplied to Paranoid in
8 the autumn of 2006 -- 1996. I am so sorry.
9 If we then go to the witness statement of Mr Murray,
10 which we see at [17338], in common with a number of
11 witnesses this is a gentleman with health difficulties.
12 Nonetheless he has given a statement to the Inquiry and
13 I will be calling him, but what I would be putting to
14 Tracey Clarke is this, a statement made on 16th November
15 2000 by Mr Murray. What he says there is:
16 "I am the husband of [Tracey Clarke's mother]",
17 and he gives her name and where he lives. He says:
18 "My wife's brother Michael McKee lived ... with his
19 wife Andrea, which is just across the square from us.
20 In 1997 I was living at this address with my wife,
21 Tracey Clarke and my son xxxxxxxxxx. I can recall
22 27th April 1997, as I remember hearing about an incident
23 on the radio that morning. Tracey told me prior to the
24 radio news about the big fight. Tracey said she stayed
25 to watch because it was great crack."
45
1 Again if one is evaluating a distinction between the
2 questionnaire and the witness statement, where the
3 questionnaire does not mention her seeing the fight,
4 where the witness statement does, there you have her
5 father saying she is telling him about it the next
6 morning:
7 "I remember her sitting on the chair at the kitchen
8 with her back to the back door, that was always her
9 seat. She said they all came back from the Coach and
10 there was a fight. She said a lot ran up to the fight
11 ..."
12 Again that's what was in her witness statement:
13 "... and Allister Hanvey was there."
14 Again that's in her witness statement:
15 "I don't know if Allister went to the Coach, but
16 Tracey saw him in Portadown. Tracey and Allister's
17 relationship was on one day and off the next.
18 I remember the news coming on some time that day, but
19 I can't be sure if Tracey was there when it came on.
20 I remember some time on that day Tracey saying she
21 didn't want to go out with Allister any more because of
22 what he'd done."
23 Again she is going to have to explain how she could
24 have said that if she didn't see Allister Hanvey doing
25 anything:
46
1 "I think this was because of the injuries Hamill had.
2 Tracey was saying that Allister was an animal if he'd
3 done that to Hamill. I remember one day around that
4 time sitting at the table in the kitchen with Tracey.
5 Tracey was in her Going Places uniform. I normally took
6 her into work in Portadown. She said that Allister
7 wanted to take her out for lunch. She said Allister
8 wanted to meet her and he had given her dog's abuse on
9 the phone and pestered her until she gave in and he
10 wanted to talk to her to get it sorted out."
11 Query what, of course. Missing out a couple of
12 sentences, starting on the right-hand side:
13 "I remember after Tracey met Allister for lunch
14 Tracey said Allister felt quite proud of what he'd done.
15 This was after [her mother] had asked her how she got on
16 with Allister."
17 Again no doubt she will tell you what that means:
18 "Tracey also said that Allister said 'Sure he was
19 only a Fenian bastard' and that was the type of attitude
20 he had."
21 Again no doubt she can tell you, if she didn't see
22 anything and her witness statement is false, how she
23 could have said that:
24 "Again some time when I was sitting at the kitchen
25 table with Tracey, Tracey said she had went over to the
47
1 back of the landrover to talk to Robert Atkinson."
2 Again that's impossible if her questionnaire is
3 accurate:
4 "She said he told them -- that's the ones on the
5 street and Allister -- to go on and he told Allister to
6 get them clothes burnt. Tracey said she had been
7 sitting on the kerb and Atkinson was by himself at the
8 back of the Land Rover, so she went over to him, and
9 that's when she heard him telling them to go and telling
10 Allister to burn his clothes."
11 That I think, to be fair, is the only contention
12 that Mr Atkinson told Allister Hanvey on the night to
13 burn his clothes.
14 Going over the page to [17340], about halfway down
15 the page on the right-hand side:
16 "I remember on the night Tracey went to the Police
17 Station to make her statement I was in bed. We got
18 a phone call to our house. I think [Tracey's mother]
19 told me that Andrea called to say she was with Tracey
20 and would look after her. I think John McAteer took
21 this statement. I remember Andrea later saying that she
22 came from the gym to the Chinese and took Tracey to the
23 station. I remember I got up that night and when Tracey
24 came home she was crying and [her mother] was comforting
25 her. I also remember, although I don't know exactly
48
1 when, Tracey said Allister had got rid of the clothes
2 and burnt them."
3 Again if the statement is false, difficult to see
4 how Mr Murray could possibly have got that. Here we go
5 with Mr Murray's direct evidence:
6 "Tracey had bought him a silver jacket from Paranoid
7 for that Christmas, that's 1996, and I never saw it
8 after that Hamill incident. The jacket was silver, like
9 anorak material, without the lining in it. I remember
10 the jacket had an orange stripe on the sleeves. The
11 jacket only came to his waist and it looked too small
12 for him. I don't remember if Tracey said the jacket was
13 burnt, but I do remember her saying that the clothes
14 were burnt. There was never no conversation as to where
15 the clothes were burnt. I remember Tracey buying
16 Allister a dear jacket, because she said she was paying
17 it off every week in Paranoid. I don't remember Tracey
18 buying any other items of clothing out of any other
19 shops for Allister. I remember Andrea telling me that
20 Tracey told police that Atkinson had told Hanvey to burn
21 his clothes. Andrea didn't seem annoyed that Tracey had
22 said this about Atkinson, even though they were
23 friends."
24 If we go now to page [05116], Mr Murray was also
25 shown the diagram showing the silver jacket that was of
49
1 a type supplied by a supplier to Paranoid. Final
2 paragraph:
3 "11 2 01 called with Jim Murray ... Showed
4 him AM5 and AM6", which we have seen, "which he thought
5 the jacket was similar. He was thought the one Allister
6 was wearing was shorter."
7 At page [05113] we get a further action record
8 print. It is essentially an attendance note of
9 a conversation with a gentleman. We are calling him P50
10 at the moment. Again you will hear from him. This is
11 a rather curious conversation he had, but again it is
12 something I am going to put to Tracey Clarke.
13 "060301 ...
14 On 13th February 2001 AM5 and AM6", which we've
15 seen, "diagrams of Skanx shown to P50. Although he
16 accepted that he bought some items of clothing from
17 Skanx, he would not accept that he bought the items
18 shown on AM5 and AM6, noting that there may well be
19 modifications on them. He has no documentation to show
20 dealings with them. He would not accept that he sold
21 a silver jacket from his shop in his statement but
22 conceded that if he was asked in court, he would state
23 it is possible that he did sell one, but would not put
24 this in his statement. He believes the coat he sold to
25 Tracey Clarke and Allister Hanvey was a Danielle Poole
50
1 coat valued at approximately £150.00."
2 Again one will see what his evidence comes out at
3 when he gives it.
4 Next there is a consultation. We see two notes of
5 that. The first is at [17591]. This is the note of
6 Mr Davison, a DPP officer -- again you will be hearing
7 from him -- of a consultation with Gordon Kerr, Queen's
8 Counsel. Again you will be hearing from him about this.
9 The question whether to proceed with the prosecution
10 of those in custody was very much dependent on whether
11 this lady and Timothy Jameson would give evidence
12 according to the statements that they had given to the
13 police. So they were both seen.
14 Here I am dealing only with Tracey Clarke, and in
15 the middle three passages:
16 "On 17 October 1997 at 3.30 pm I attended
17 a consultation between Gordon Kerr QC and Witness A.
18 Detective Superintendent Cooke, Detective Sergeant
19 Bradley and Detective Constable McAteer were also
20 present. Witness A was accompanied by her parents.
21 "Witness A is a pleasant looking, reasonably
22 well-dressed young woman. As she walked into the room
23 she looked worried, and as soon as Gordon Kerr started
24 to talk to her she started to cry. She cried quite
25 frequently during the consultation, but was able to
51
1 relate the events of the night more or less in
2 accordance with her statement. She had not had
3 an opportunity to refresh her memory."
4 What these gentlemen will tell you is that she was
5 not given the statement then and there and asked whether
6 it was true; rather, she was asked to give her account
7 of events. What she said was consistent with the
8 statement she gave to the police:
9 "She is reasonably articulate and seemed to be
10 telling the truth. If she were to give evidence,
11 I consider that she would come across as very truthful.
12 "At the end of the consultation she was asked about
13 the possibility of giving evidence. She stated that she
14 would rather die than give evidence. She said she
15 wouldn't give evidence because she loves
16 Allister Hanvey, to whom she was formerly engaged."
17 I think that's probably a misspelling of "formally":
18 "She stated that it was hard to give evidence
19 against the others because she knows them all. She and
20 her family are all very worried about the possibility of
21 attack by loyalist paramilitaries. Her father stated
22 that he would like to see the accused going to Court,
23 but stated that going to Court will destroy Tracey."
24 Consistently with what the Senior Coroner for
25 Northern Ireland has told you, there is a woman who is
52
1 desperate not to give evidence, but does not, in that
2 desperation, take the opportunity to say, "My statement
3 is wrong". On the contrary, she is evaluated by the DPP
4 officer, as by the coroner, as a witness whose statement
5 was true.
6 Again, she is going to have to deal with that in
7 evidence when she comes before you, and it may well be
8 she can persuade you that there was some reason why she
9 didn't disavow her statement at that stage and these
10 people all have it wrong.
11 If we then go over the page to [17633], we see in
12 the form of an opinion by Mr Kerr an assessment of
13 various witnesses. We see it is received on
14 13th November 1997.
15 If we go over the page to [17634], we see Mr Kerr's
16 account:
17 "Witness A.
18 "I saw Witness A in the presence of Mr Davison.
19 Due to her age she was accompanied by her parents, who
20 seemed respectable and responsible people. I took her
21 through her statement. She was not unexpectedly nervous
22 and slightly hesitant in some of her answers. However
23 she struck me as being entirely credible and reliable in
24 her evidence. I would have been content to give full
25 weight to her evidence in my opinion. It was clear that
53
1 she may be a reluctant witness and I explored this with
2 her first of all, and then discussed it with her parents
3 and the police.
4 "She stated that she did not want to give evidence.
5 She further stated that the reason she did not want to
6 give evidence against Hanvey was that she still loved
7 him and that, as against the others, they were her
8 friends. She realised the importance of the matter but
9 was quite clear that she would not give evidence."
10 As with the coroner, as with the DPP officer, there
11 is experienced counsel taking a view, and she will have
12 to tell you why it is, if it remains her position, that
13 their view is completely wrong.
14 That is the surrounding material which I will be
15 seeking to put to her. For what it is worth at
16 page [80188] -- perhaps we can go over to the next page,
17 [80189]. I am sorry. My numbering has gone awry. It
18 is not a matter of great significance. I was going to
19 suggest that it may be helpful to look at the draft
20 witness statement prepared for Miss Clarke on this.
21 Perhaps I can just tell you in summary what she has
22 told the Inquiry about her present position, which is
23 that she made a false statement to the police because
24 the police told her they were not going to let her out
25 of the police station unless she told them the things
54
1 that went in the statement, and that, in fact, it was
2 her aunt who told her what to say.
3 She says the police officer -- that would be
4 DC McAteer -- told her to say the names of those
5 involved in the kicking. She says she gave
6 Allister Hanvey's name because she wanted to hurt him
7 and she was being vindictive.
8 Pausing there, I am not able to tell you that we
9 have material which shows that the police had those
10 names as involved in the attack. She has also told the
11 Inquiry the police were shouting at her and banging the
12 table, saying she was not going to get out.
13 Finally in this block, perhaps it would be helpful
14 to look at the witness statements made to the police of
15 a couple more relatives of Tracey Clarke. The first of
16 those is at [14901]. This is a lady who is not going to
17 be called and, therefore, their name has been blanked
18 out. She tells us in the second sentence:
19 "My husband is [blank], who is the uncle of
20 Tracey Clarke. I remember hearing about Robert Hamill
21 being assaulted in Portadown. I heard about this the
22 Sunday morning after the incident. Some time between
23 the following Monday and the next weekend, I was
24 speaking to my husband's sister ... and her husband,
25 Jim Murray."
55
1 So that's Tracey Clarke's mother and Jim Murray:
2 "One of them said that Tracey ... had to go to the
3 police station and she was taken by Andrea McKee to make
4 a statement about what happened the night Robert Hamill
5 was assaulted. I'm not sure whether Allister Hanvey
6 was going with Tracey at this time. I didn't know
7 whether it was on or off at this time. I mean Tracey
8 and Allister's relationship. At some stage, Jim or
9 [Tracey Clarke's mother] told myself and [my husband]
10 that Robbie Atkinson had told Allister Hanvey to burn
11 his clothes."
12 So the whole family is talking about this
13 apparently:
14 "I don't know exactly how they knew this, whether it
15 was Tracey or Allister who had told them."
16 Again, no doubt Miss Clarke can tell you how on
17 earth otherwise they might have learned this:
18 "At some stage during this, I'm not sure when, [her
19 mother] or Jim told us that Tracey was going to make
20 a statement. Tracey was worried about threats that were
21 being made against her and the fact that she was afraid
22 of her home being attacked."
23 Overleaf, [14902]:
24 "[My husband] and I told her that she should tell
25 the truth about what happened."
56
1 So you can see why it might be that -- and, again,
2 she will tell us -- that Tracey Clarke was, in fact,
3 telling the truth, despite her fears, when she made her
4 witness statement.
5 If we then go to page [14903], this is the statement
6 of the husband of the lady whose statement we last saw:
7 "I am known as [blank], my brother is
8 Michael McKee ... and my sister is [Tracey's mother].
9 Her previous name was [blank] ... My niece is
10 Tracey Clarke. I am a former police officer although
11 I left the police in 1985."
12 If we go over the page [14904], a quarter of the way
13 down:
14 "I can recall an incident when Robert Hamill was
15 beaten at the top of Woodhouse Street in Portadown.
16 Robert subsequently died after this assault. I remember
17 hearing about this on the news and the following day, or
18 some time around that, I heard my niece, Tracey Clarke,
19 was a witness to this assault."
20 So again, there is the family rebounding with the
21 knowledge or the information, which you are presumably
22 going to be told was source information, that she had
23 seen the assault:
24 "I can't be sure who told me, but I think it was my
25 sister or my father."
57
1 Dropping down a couple of sentences:
2 "I heard Tracey had been a witness to Robert Hamill
3 getting a beating and at some time Tracey and Andrea
4 went to the police station to make a statement.
5 [Somebody] or else her husband, Jim Murray, told me that
6 Allister Hanvey, who had been Tracey's boyfriend, had
7 met in a cafe and talked. I don't know what they talked
8 about. [Tracey's mother] or Jim also told me that
9 Tracey told them and the police that Allister Hanvey had
10 assaulted Robert Hamill, and that Robert Atkinson, who
11 had been on duty that night, told Allister to go and
12 burn his clothes."
13 So there is an ex-police officer telling you that
14 other members of the family told him very soon after
15 that Tracey Clarke had been saying Allister Hanvey was
16 told by Mr Atkinson to burn his clothes. So there is
17 a web of consistency among the family that Tracey Clarke
18 is going to have to explain to you.
19 Those are all the matters which you would have heard
20 Tracey Clarke dealing with, had she attended this
21 morning, and will, I hope in a few days, hear her deal
22 with.
23 As I said at the outset this morning, there are, of
24 course, other witnesses whom I now propose to call so
25 you can evaluate them in the way you have had
58
1 an opportunity to evaluate the coroner.
2 Unhappily, of course, we did not schedule any of
3 them for today in the expectation that Miss Clarke's
4 evidence would take some time, and that it was
5 a last-minute assertion that she could not come.
6 So on that basis we have the other witnesses and
7 indeed a witness to be taken out of sequence tomorrow,
8 but there is nothing else I can offer for today, I am
9 afraid
10 THE CHAIRMAN: Very well. Then we will adjourn until
11 tomorrow. 10.30, or ought we to start earlier?
12 MR UNDERWOOD: I think 10.30 will be sufficient for us to
13 get through the witnesses we have tomorrow.
14 THE CHAIRMAN: Thank you.
15 (1.05 pm)
16 (The hearing adjourned until 10.30 tomorrow morning)
17
18 --ooOoo--
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MR JOHN LAND LECKEY (sworn) ...................... 18
4 Examination by MR UNDERWOOD ............... 19
Cross-examination by MR DALY .............. 29
5 Cross-examination by MR O'CONNOR .......... 30
Cross-examination by MR BERRY ............. 31
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Cross-examination by MR ATCHISON ................. 34
7 Cross-examination by MR MALLON ............ 35
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