Police informer to stand trial over lawyer's murder

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.

Mr Finucane, a leading Catholic lawyer, was gunned down in front of his family in his north Belfast home in February 1989.

Responsibility for the killing was claimed by the Ulster Freedom Fighters.

Stobie, 50, a one time Ulster Defence Association quartermaster from Forthriver Road, Belfast, will appear at Belfast Crown Court on November 12, the Northern Ireland Court Service said.

He is charged with aiding and abetting the UFF killers and possessing the guns used in the shooting.

Stobie also faces similar charges over the murder of 19-year-old Protestant student Adam Lambert in 1987 - he was shot dead after being mistaken for a Catholic by loyalist gunmen.

The charges were brought against Mr Stobie by a special team sent to Northern Ireland under the leadership of Sir John Stevens, now Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, amid allegations of security force collusion in Mr Finucane’s death.

Mr Finucane’s family continues to press the Government for an independent judicial inquiry into the allegations, and is being supported by both Sinn Fein and the Government.

Both Amnesty International and the British Irish Rights Watch have made strong calls for such an inquiry.