A High Court hearing in Belfast has heard that 20 police officers, due to appear at a public inquiry into the murder of a Catholic man in 1997, fear their lives will be at risk unless they are granted anonymity.
A barrister acting for the officers in a judicial review in Belfast said the men believed they could be in danger from dissident republicans.
The inquiry into the murder by loyalists of 25-year-old Robert Hamill in Portadown, Co Armagh, was due to start next month.
However, it has been delayed after legal representatives said they would appeal against a decision forcing former police officers to identify themselves.
The inquiry is to investigate whether police failed to prevent the beating of Mr Hamill by a loyalist gang in April 1997.
