Former RUC chief Hermon dies

Former RUC Chief Constable John Hermon who led the force at the height of the Troubles has died, his family announced today.

Hermon, 79, married to Ulster Unionist North Down MP Sylvia Hermon, died last night after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease.

Today relatives of Hermon's, who was known to family and friends as Jack, paid tribute to his battle against illness.

“It is with enormous sadness that the family of Sir Jack Hermon announce his death, after a long and valiant struggle against the ravages of Alzheimer’s,” read a family statement.

“He passed away very peacefully at teatime yesterday in a nursing home in Bangor (Co Down).

“Members of his immediate family, including his wife, Sylvia, had been with him throughout the day.”

John ’Jack’ Hermon joined the RUC in 1951, rising to the rank of Chief Constable by 1980.

His period in office ended in 1989 by which time he had overseen policing during one of the most turbulent periods of the Troubles, including the 1981 republican hunger strikes and probes into the infamous shoot-to-kill allegations made against the RUC.