Rosemary Nelson inquiry delayed for nine months

The British government's public inquiry into the murder of Lurgan solicitor Rosemary Nelson has been delayed for at least nine months.

The tribunal was due to begin hearings in January, but the inquiry team announced today that it has reluctantly concluded that these will not begin before September of next year.

It says the amount and range of work involved means that it will not be able to set a specific date for the start of public hearings.

The inquiry was set up two years ago on the recommendation of retired Canadian judge Peter Cory, who said there was enough evidence to warrant an investigation into the killing.

Ms Nelson, a solicitor who represented nationalist clients, was killed when loyalists planted a booby-trapped bomb beneath her car in Lurgan in March 1999.

There have long been suspicions that the PSNI and British army colluded with those who planted the device.