Finucane accused case collapses

The case against the man charged with aiding and abetting in the murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane 12 years ago has collapsed.

Lord Chief Justice Sir Robert Carswell returned a verdict of not guilty in the absence of evidence against William Stobie at Belfast Crown Court on Monday November 26.

The case was dropped after the Director of Public Prosecutions concluded that the central prosecution witness, former newspaper journalist Neil Mulholland, was not mentally capable of giving evidence.

After the hearing today Mr Stobie said: “I am glad it’s all over”. His solicitor Joe Rice added: “Mr Stobie is delighted. He always maintained his innocence.”

The charge of killing Protestant student Adam Lambert in 1987 was also dropped.

Mr Finucane was shot 14 times in front of his wife and four children in north Belfast in 1989. Loyalist paramilitaries at the time claimed responsibility for his death.

As a result of public outcry an investigation headed by Metropolitan chief Sir John Stevens was set up to investigate Mr Finucane’s death and wider allegations of RUC collusion. At the heart of the investigation is the role of the British Army's Force Research Unit (FRU) which handled agents and gathered intelligence from loyalist paramilitaries. The Stevens team later charged Mr Stobie a former RUC Special Branch agent, in connection with the killing.

Mr Stobie, a self-confessed former UDA quartermaster, admitted having supplied the weapon used in the killing, but denied knowing the name of the target and insisted that he alerted his handlers that a shooting was imminent.

A statement on behalf of the Finucane family said: “We are not surprised by the collapse of the Stobie trial. The trial of Stobie was never a truth seeking process. We have maintained that the Stevens investigation and the prosecution of Stobie was a delaying tactic to thwart the establishment of a public inquiry. The Stevens investigation has delayed a public inquiry by at least three years, so it has served its purpose.

Sinn Féin president Gerry Adams backed a call for a public inquiry by the Finucane family on Monday. Mr Adams said: “From the beginning the British system and in particular the intelligence services responsible for collusion and the running of agents within the loyalist death squads, have used every means available to them to prevent the truth from emerging around Pat Finucane’s case and hundreds of other similar killings.”

SDLP policing spokesperson Alex Attwood said the judgment was “not surprising” and confirmed that a full judicial enquiry was required into the murder of Pat Finucane and the wider activities of the Force Research Unit. (AMcE)