The inquest into the death of Robert Hart begins today, Monday 2 November 2015, and detectives investigating his assault have once again appealed to the public for their help to catch his attacker.
Robert, 26, died on Wednesday 11 June 2014, five days after the assault at the Parklife Weekender music festival that left him fighting for life with a bleed on his brain.
The inquest process begins at Manchester Town Hall – almost 18 months after the attack, which occurred on 7 June 2014 – and despite concerted efforts from dedicated teams of detectives and considerable assistance from the public, Greater Manchester Police are still hunting the man responsible.
In a campaign targeting festival-goers returning to the Parklife Weekender on the 6 and 7 June 2015, GMP issued a fresh appeal for information, pictures and videos to be sent to helpbobby@gmp.police.uk and started the hashtag #helpbobby on social media.
That media appeal resulted in 217 emails, 571 photos and 46 videos being received to the helpbobby@gmp.police.uk email address for forensic examination.
Twenty-three people were also named as potential suspects, though most have now been ruled out following further investigation.
Detectives have not given up on tracking down the man who attacked Robert, and have once again appealed for the public’s help.
Detective Superintendent Phil Reade said: “This has been a long and complex investigation and one which, frustratingly, has not yielded the result we have worked so hard to achieve.
“But that does not mean we have given up hope.
“Today, Robert’s family will start an inquest process which will hopefully give them the answers they so desperately need about exactly why Robert died as a result of his injuries.
“But what will be missing from this is the knowledge of who attacked him.
“We are still fighting to bring this man to justice, to provide the family with that knowledge; that the man responsible for attacking Robert will be held to account.
“Previous requests for pictures have resulted in us being within a few feet of seeing this man in a picture and being able to identify him, but unfortunately the shot we need has eluded us.
“That is why yet another push for anyone who was at Parklife last year to send in any footage or pictures they may have of the event is so important.
“Robert’s attacker is on one of those photos somewhere, but we still need the public’s help to find him and bring some peace to the loved ones he has left behind.”
A £23,000 reward offered by the Parklife organisers and Crimestoppers remains available to anyone who provides information which leads to the conviction of Robert’s attacker.
Anyone with information can contact the incident room direct on 0161 856 3400 or email the incident room on helpbobby@gmp.police.uk with any relevant footage.
Alternatively you can call police on 101 or independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
