Coroner's ruling 'marks a degree of justice and closure' - Gerard Hampson family

In a statement issued yesterday following the conclusion of the inquest held in Omagh Courthouse, Mr Hampson's family said while they still had questions that may never be answered, they felt coroner's ruling 'marks a degree of justice and closure.'

The statement said: “We would like to thank the coroner for his considered verdict. Although the coroner acknowledged that many of our questions may go unanswered, he concluded that our father Gerard 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 be answered, we feel that today marks a degree of justice and closure. Our father Gerard, 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 all 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.

Gerard Hampson died 'as a result of the action of a third party

“When we reported this to the police and asked for help, we were ignored. When we needed compassion and support, we were met with contempt. Following a complaint to the Police Ombudsman in 2010, a report was published in 2016 that outlined a series of police failings throughout the ‘investigation.’

“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 Gerard’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.

Derry man found dead on shores of Lough Neagh died 'as a result of the action of a third party'

Coroner rules out suicide, natural cause or accident as a cause Gerard Hampson's death

“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 court 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 statement concluded: “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.”