Nearly €13m has been spent on the latest police inquiry into Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane’s murder, it was revealed tonight.

FORMER paramilitary boss Johnny “Mad Dog” Adair was heavily investigated over the assassination of loyalist informer William Stobie, detectives said yesterday.

Former paramilitary boss Johnny “Mad Dog” Adair was heavily investigated over the assassination of loyalist informer William Stobie, detectives said today.

The Pat Finucane murder case, in which former police informer Ken Barrett today pleaded guilty, has been adjourned until Friday when Barrett's defence lawyer Arthur Harvey QC will make his submissions.

The dirty war British intelligence waged against the IRA sank to its murkiest depths with Pat Finucane’s assassination.

Pat Finucane’s murder was one of the most notorious killings in Northern Ireland’s bloody history.

Ken Barrett - who today pleased guilty to the murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane - just nodded when asked to confirm his identity in court today, but when a series of charges, including Mr Finucane’s murder, were put to him, he replied quietly: “Guilty.”

THE British government’s continued refusal to hold a public inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane is an outrageous injustice.

A public inquiry into the murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane should be held now before more vital witnesses die, Judge Peter Cory said tonight.

THE British Government has put off a public inquiry into the murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane despite Judge Peter Cory’s assertion that public confidence would be badly damaged if it did not go ahead immediately.

The British government today flew in the face of Judge Peter Cory’s recommendations in its decision to postpone the public inquiry into the murder of Patrick Finucane until after court action is completed.

A MAJOR report into the loyalist paramilitary murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane has been delayed for another six months.

A top loyalist named as the man who ordered Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane’s murder could now find his own life under threat, it was claimed tonight.

A retired RUC officer has claimed that police in the North failed to catch those responsible for the murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane because of a cover up by RUC Special Branch.

A senior loyalist has been released in the North after being questioned in connection with the murder of Belfast solicitor, Pat Finucane.

The family of murdered Belfast solicitor, Pat Finucane, has welcomed a UN recommendation that the British government initiate an immediate public inquiry into the shooting.

British security forces colluded with loyalist paramilitaries to murder a Belfast lawyer, the head of Northern Ireland’s Human Rights Commission said today.

A High Court judge will today rule on a freedom bid mounted by jailed loyalist Johnny Adair.

A man questioned in connection with the murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane has disappeared after being warned that his life was in danger following the assassination of William Stobie last week.

William Stobie knew he was living on borrowed time once his past as a Special Branch informer was exposed, friends said tonight.

A man who died after he was shot and dumped near the border was bound with tape, police confirmed today.

Sinn Fein’s Gerry Kelly has said that the shooting dead of William Stobie this morning has further strengthened the case for a public inquiry into the death of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane.

The Minister for Foreign Affairs has condemned this morning's murder of William Stobie in Belfast as "abhorrent".

Former associates of intelligence agent William Stobie today said they gunned him down in Belfast.

In a letter sent to the Northern Ireland Secretary John Reid today, a human rights organisation urged the British government to allow another force to investigate the killing of William Stobie.

The Red Hand Defenders have claimed responsibility for the murder of William Stobie.

Assistant Chief Constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland Alan McQuillan condemned the killing of former murder suspect William Stobie as "another dreadful murder in the run-up to Christmas".

Leading loyalist John White has said he would not be surprised if the UDA shot William Stobie.

The family of murdered Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane has expressed shock at the shooting of former murder suspect William Stobie.

Suspicion for this morning's shooting of William Stobie is centring on his former associates in the Ulster Defence Association.

William Stobie, the man who walked free from a Belfast court room three weeks ago having been accused of involvement in the killing of solicitor Pat Finucane over a decade ago, has been shot dead.

Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams has accused the British government of deliberately trying to prevent the truth about the murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane from reaching the public domain.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair needs to take brave steps to investigate accusations of collusion between the British state, its security forces and paramilitaries in the killing of nationalists in Northern Ireland, Sinn Fein’s Gerry Adams said today.

A fresh judicial investigation into the murder of Belfast solicitor Patrick Finucane will be held in the New Year, the British government said tonight.

The trial of a UDA man accused of murdering Catholic solicitor Pat Finucane has collapsed in Belfast after the British DPP decided that the main witness should not be compelled to give evidence.

The Director of Public Prosecutions in the North is expected to reveal today whether or not he intends to compel a former journalist to give evidence in the trial of a man accused of murdering solicitor Pat Finucane.

The North’s Lord Chief Justice has told the North's DPP to reconsider his decision to call a key witness to testify against a man charged with murdering Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane.

Lawyers representing a key witness in the trial of the man accused of murdering Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane have said their client could commit suicide if he is forced to give evidence.

Lawyers representing the family of murdered solicitor Pat Finucane have launched a legal challenge against British police commissioner John Stevens over his refusal to provide documentary material relating to the murder.

The trial of former Ulster Defence Association quartermaster William Stobie, who denies murdering solicitor Pat Finucane, was today adjourned at Belfast Crown Court.

Lawyers representing a former UDA man accused of murdering solicitor Pat Finucane have attempted to halt his trial because no new evidence has emerged over the past 10 years.

A former UDA man and self-confessed RUC double agent is expected to face charges of murdering Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane in a court in the city this morning.

Self-confessed police informer William Stobie is to stand trial later this year for his alleged role in the murder more than a decade ago of Belfast solicitor Patrick Finucane.

An influential American body tonight backed calls for a public inquiry into the death of murdered solicitor Pat Finucane.