Trevor William Hamilton (born 19 June 1982) is a Northern Irish

murderer Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excuse ...

from

Sion Mills Sion Mills is a village to the south of Strabane in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, on the River Mourne. In the 2001 Census it had a population of 2,050 people. It is a tree-lined industrial village and designated conservation area, particul ...

County Tyrone County Tyrone (; ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the nine counties of Ulster and one of the thirty-two traditional counties of Ireland. Its county town is Omagh. Adjoined to the south-west shore of Lough Neagh, the cou ...

. He abducted and murdered 65-year-old Attracta Harron, a recently retired librarian, when she was returning from Mass in Murlog,

Lifford Lifford (, historically anglicised as ''Liffer'') is the county town of County Donegal, Ireland, the administrative centre of the county and the seat of Donegal County Council, although the town of Letterkenny is often mistaken as holding this ...

County Donegal County Donegal ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county of the Republic of Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster and is the northernmost county of Ireland. The county mostly borders Northern Ireland, sharing only a small b ...

, on 11 December 2003. Four months earlier he had been released from prison on licence after serving half of a seven-year sentence for rape and other offences, including threats to kill; the risk he posed to the public, especially adult women, was assessed as high (level 3). Attracta Harron's body was found on 5 April 2004, four months after she was last seen alive, hidden in a river bank less than 50 yards from Hamilton's home. Hamilton was found guilty of her murder on 12 April 2006. The trial judge, when sentencing him on 4 August 2006, recommended that he should never be released from prison (the first time this had happened in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

, though such sentences have been imposed on as many as 50 inmates in

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Th ...

). However, on 27 June 2008 the

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

instead ruled that he would have to serve 35 years before

parole Parole, also known as provisional release, supervised release, or being on paper, is a form of early release of a prisoner, prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated ...

could be considered, meaning that he is now expected to remain in prison until at least 2040, when he would be 58. Hamilton's crimes were the subject of a serious case review in 2006. In autumn 2006, Hamilton was attacked and beaten by a fellow prisoner in Erne House in Maghaberry Prison. He has been held in Maghaberry since his conviction. At that time he maintained his innocence of the Harron murder.J. Beattie
'Exclusive: Attracta Killer's Jail Letters'
''The Mirror'', 13 October 2006. Retrieved 1 February 2024

References

External links

Review of how he was supervised by the statutory agenciesStatement by Northern Ireland Prison ServiceNorthern Ireland Courts Service press release on sentencing (DOC file)
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110822105844/http://www.courtsni.gov.uk/NR/rdonlyres/D4920842-6C93-4664-8B52-641C305CCF6A/0/j_j_KER7217Final.htm Neutral Citation No.[2008 NICA 27 - Court of Appeal - The Queen v Trevor Hamilton]
Family site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hamilton, Trevor 1982 births Living people Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Northern Ireland People convicted of murder by Northern Ireland People from Northern Ireland convicted of murder Prisoners from Northern Ireland sentenced to life imprisonment