Pressure mounts for Finucane probe

PRESSURE is mounting on the British Government to announce a public inquiry into the murder of solicitor Pat Finucane following his killer’s guilty plea.

The family of Mr Finucane has challenged the government to honour its agreement to set up an inquiry, recommended in an independent report by Canadian Judge Peter Cory.

Ken Barrett, 41, admitted yesterday in Belfast Crown Court that he was one of two gunmen who smashed their way into the 39-year-old solicitor’s north Belfast home and shot him 14 times in front of his wife and children.

One of those children was his son Michael, now a solicitor based in Dublin. Mr Finucane said: “They said they would set out the way ahead at the conclusion of all prosecutions.

“The only prosecution has now been held, so when can the public inquiry be held? That’s the only question the British Government has to answer.”

The Northern Ireland Office said they would have to check whether anyone else is expected to be charged in connection with the murder.

“We will be establishing whether there are any other prosecutions that could be affected by a public inquiry and will make a further announcement as soon as possible,” a spokesman said.

Barrett, from Belfast, confessed to the killing to two undercover police officers attached to an investigation team led by John Stevens, who has spent 15 years probing various allegations of security force collusion in loyalist murders.

The killer, a former UDA member and RUC informant, had confessed to the murder, to his police handlers 10 years ago and, more recently, to a BBC documentary team.

Mr Finucane played down the significance of Barrett’s confession.

“I don’t think he’s the lynchpin of the case,” he said.

“My focus a long time ago shifted from individual perpetrators to the system that made it possible.

“You can take Ken Barrett or Billy Stobie out of the equation and there’s any number of Kens or Billys to plug back in,” he said.

Barrett will be sentenced on Friday.

An Irish Government spokesperson said last night: “It has always been the Government’s position ... that a public inquiry should take precedence over any prosecution. We will continue to press for such an inquiry.”