Harron's son demands public inquiry

The son of a retired librarian abducted and murdered in the North by a convicted sex offender tonight demanded a public inquiry into how he was able to kill her.

Micheal Harron, whose 65-year-old mother Attracta was bludgeoned to death by Trevor Hamilton and concealed for four months in a makeshift grave, demanded the probe after it was claimed her murderer was one of the most visited sex offenders in the North.

Hamilton, 23, from Concess Road in Sion Mills, Co Tyrone, was found guilty yesterday by a jury in Dungannon Crown Court of the horrific murder.

The farm labourer will be sentenced later following psychiatric reports.

The co-ordinator of the Sex Offenders Strategic Management Committee William McAuley said lessons would have to be learnt after it emerged Hamilton was under scrutiny following a previous conviction for a sexual assault on a woman.

Mr McAuley revealed: “He was being closely monitored in that he would have been regularly visited by police officers because of his sex offender registration, because of his risk management plan and he would have been visited by probation officers through his being on a supervised probation order and on the risk management plan.

“He would have been visited very, very regularly – probably more regularly than any other sex offender at that point in time in Northern Ireland.”

Mr Harron said his family were entitled to know what went wrong with the system.

“If it’s true that he was the most visited sex offender then there’s great failings in the system.

“In my opinion there needs to be an inquiry, a public inquiry, to find out what went wrong with the supervision, why he was allowed to continue his very serious sexual crimes and, eventually, why he was allowed to murder my mother.”

Mrs Harron from Strabane, Co Tyrone, vanished while returning from morning Mass near Murlog Chapel in Lifford, Co Donegal, in December 2003.

Her remains were discovered four months later near Trevor Hamilton’s home after specialist body recovery dogs were brought in from the South Yorkshire Police.

The case made legal history as jurors at Dungannon Crown Court were allowed to hear evidence of Trevor Hamilton’s previous convictions.

The judge, Mr Justice McLaughlin, told Hamilton that he intended to pass possibly the longest life sentence ever passed in the courts.

“There’s a very real possibility you will never be released in your own lifetime,” he said.

“You can be sure it will be a long day before you see freedom again.”

Mr Harron’s demand for an inquiry drew support from across Northern Ireland’s political divide.

East Derry MP Gregory Campbell expressed concern about the case.

“I think there has to be a full investigation of this case to see how closely he was monitored, how systematic the entire monitoring was and to see what improvement in the existing legislation there can be,” he told BBC Radio Ulster.

Sinn Féin vice president Pat Doherty also backed calls for an inquiry and demanded a meeting with Kit Chivers of the Criminal Justice Inspectorate to discuss shortcomings in the system.

“Following Trevor Hamilton’s horrific rape of a young woman in February 2000, it was evident from his physiological profile that upon release from prison he would continue to pose an extreme threat to women and girls,” the West Tyrone MP said.

“Despite the clear threat that he posed, it is incomprehensible that Trevor Hamilton had the freedom of move about with ease and abduct and brutally murder Attracta Harron just a few months after his release for the earlier rape conviction while still on parole.”