A former police officer has been sentenced to 12 months in prison for conspiring to pervert the course of justice in connection with a sectarian killing in 1997.

Robert Hamill, a 25-year-old Catholic, died after he was beaten by loyalists in Portadown, County Armagh.

Robert Cecil Atkinson, 71, from Brownstown Road in Portadown, appeared before Craigavon Crown Court on Friday.

The former reserve constable admitted giving false information to police who were investigating a phone call made from his home on the day of the attack.

Mr Hamill died of his injuries on 8 May 1997.