Gérard Hampson family gain 'degree of justice and closure'

Mr. Hampson, aged 53, of Northland Road in Derry, was found dead on the shores of Lough Neagh on January 9, 2008.

Today Mr. McCrisken said that he believed Mr. Hampson had died on November 30, 2007, and ruled that he was 'placed or pushed into the water and this was done while he was heavily intoxicated.'

In a statement welcoming the ruling his family said: "Although the Coroner acknowledged that many of our questions may go unanswered, he concluded that our father Gérard died as the result of the actions of a third party, or parties, and DID NOT take his own life. This brings us great relief.

"It has taken 14 years for our family to have some answers about how our father died, and although we still have questions that may never been answered, we feel that today marks a degree of justice and closure.

"Our father Gérard, known to his friends and family as ‘Shorty’, was loved deeply by all who knew him. He had an amazing sense of humour and was adored by his grandchildren. He spoke to at least one of his children every day, and we called him ‘Buzzby’ as he was always ringing us.

"When he went missing at the end of November 2007 and had no contact at all with any of his children, we knew something was wrong."

The family have criticised the police handling of the investigation into Mr. Hampson's disappearance in 2007 and referenced a 2016 report by the former Police Ombudsman Dr. Michael Maguire that 'identified numerous failings'.

Dr. Maguire concluded: "Whilst the Police Ombudsman’s investigation was limited to the actions of police, it identified existing and potential new lines of enquiry.

"It is clear from the evidence contained within the body of this report that the PSNI did not initially conduct a thorough, robust or effective investigation. Had they done so, they may have been in a position to inform the Hampson family what happened to their father."

In today's statement in response to Mr. McCrisken's ruling the family stated: "Since then, the PSNI have reinvestigated the disappearance and death of our father, but they were hampered by the inadequacies of their initial investigation. At some stage the police began to treat Gérard’s death as a murder.

"There have been two arrests (in 2016 and 2019) in connection with our father’s murder, but no prosecutions.

"We know it is unlikely that we will ever see those responsible held to account in a court of law, largely due to the police’s failure to secure potential evidence and pursue leads back

in 2007 and 2008.

"However today does mark a victory for our family. We never believed that our father took his own life, and the Coroner has examined the evidence over the course of this inquest and has reached the same conclusion. This brings immense relief to our family and draws a line under the innuendo and suspicion around his death.

"During that time our family have had to fight every single day to find out the truth about what happened to him. Today we have some answers.

"We would like to thank Noel McCartney, who helped us when our father went missing, and also provided evidence to the inquest last week.

"We would like to thank our lawyers Mark Reid, Paul Foster and Niall Hunt who represented us this week and over the past few years. We would also like to thank the Pat Finucane Centre for their continued support. The PFC helped us with our complaint to the Police Ombudsman in 2010 and have been with us at every meeting and hearing in the 12 years since."