‘Young RUC constable George Hamilton was like a Labrador puppy’

Having become an RUC cadet in August 1983, he spent his early days in uniform in Enniskillen, shadowing more experienced officers to learn the job.

One of those who remembers his arrival is Clive Johnston, a 70-year-old retired constable who served alongside him for a few years in Enniskillen.

“He came to Enniskillen straight out of the factory,” he said.

“He was like a big Labrador puppy. Honestly.

He just came bounding in, smiling from ear to ear, full of enthusiasm for everything.

“He wanted to be involved in everything, wanted to learn, wanted to get his local knowledge: ‘Who is that, where are we going now, what do you call this crossroads?’

“The old hands would say: ‘Look, wind your horns in. Take it easy.’ But really it was infectious. It wasn’t that we’d have recognised any ambition in him – he just loved his job.”

He left Enniskillen for a short time but returned in 1990, aged 23, as a sergeant.

“We were just so pleased to have him back,” he said.

Oftentimes if a sergeant said they wanted to come along with a constable in their car, the constable’s heart would sink.

“But when George said ‘Can I come out with you?’, it was just great to have him,” he said, adding that he had “very good manners”.

“You could’ve taken him into anybody’s house,” said Mr Johnston.

“He knew to take off his hat when he came in.

“He was polite – which really is a very important part of policing.

“The expression down here would be ‘he was well brung up’.”

Mr Johnston retired 18 years ago after 27 years on the force, and is now involved with the 3,800-strong NI Retired Police Officers’ Association.

He said even in later years, after Mr Hamilton became chief constable, he would still see him at funerals and gatherings in Fermanagh.

In 1994 Mr Hamilton was seconded to the Home Office and worked on “selection and appraisal systems” for the police.

In 1997 he returned to front-line duty in Lisburn and Belfast, then worked on planning for the Patten transformations.

He became a Chief Inspector in 2002 and headed up Belfast CID, before becoming a Chief Superintendent.

In 2009 he was chosen as an assistant chief constable in Strathclyde Police covering Glasgow and south-west Scotland.

In late 2011 he returned to PSNI as an assistant chief constable, and became chief constable in June 2014.