Gerard Hampson inquest: Coroner doesn’t believe death was suicide

Gérard Hampson (53), of Northland Road in Derry, disappeared at the end of November 2007. Following a search, his naked body was found on January 9, 2008.

At Friday’s hearing, a niece of the dead man spoke of the last time she saw her uncle.

Mary Hampson said that, on a Wednesday before the end of November, her uncle called to her home and he was, she said, ‘very on edge’.

She said there was another man waiting in a car outside her home. Her uncle, she added, was ‘very distracted’

When she asked him was he OK, her uncle replied that he wasn’t, adding that there were ‘boys looking for him.’

When she pressed him further, he said these “boys” were from Derry and he did not know where to go.

Mary Hampson said her uncle seemed to be ‘in real fear’ and talked about going ‘over the hill’ which she took to mean over the Glenshane Pass.

The witness said she told her uncle he could stay with her but he said he didn’t want to ‘bring these boys to your door’ as he didn’t know what they were capable of.

The witness said she asked the man in the car to come into her house but he was ‘cagey’ and ‘tense and uptight’ and did not say much.

As her uncle was leaving, Mary Hampson said she held his arm and told him: ‘Gérard, stay here’. At this point, the witness became emotional and had to pause her evidence.

She said this was the last time she saw her uncle alive.

When she finished giving her evidence, Coroner Joe McCrisken asked the witness what she thought had happened to her uncle. She said she did not believe it was suicide.

The Coroner said he did not believe it was suicide and this would be reflected in his findings.

The hearing continues.