Stevens team arrests man over Finucane killing

A man has been arrested by officers investigating the murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane who was shot dead by UDA gunmen in 1989.

The 38-year-old was arrested at his west Belfast home this morning by officers from the Stevens Inquiry team and is now being held for questioning in Lisburn police station.

The Finucane murder was one of the most high profile of the Troubles and has been the subject of allegations of collusion between loyalist paramilitaries and security forces personnel.

The Stevens Inquiry was formed to investigate allegations that the RUC Special Branch and the British military's Force Research Unit, who were running agents within the UDA, connived in selecting the victim as a target and allowing the hit team in and out of the area to carry out the assassination.

Last month Sir John Stevens revealed that the publication date of his report had been delayed by six months to allow "further investigations" to be carried out. The Metropolitan police chief was scheduled to present the findings of his report to the November session of the Northern Ireland Policing Board, but this has now been delayed until spring 2003.

Only one person has been charged in connection with the murder. William Stobie, who was working as a police informer at the time of the killing, was the UDA quartermaster that supplied the weapons used by the gunmen. However, Stobie was murdered outside his flat in north Belfast last year – two weeks after a trial into his involvement in the killing was abandoned due to lack of evidence.

The Red Hand Defenders – a cover name for loyalist paramilitaries including the UDA – later claimed that it had killed William Stobie for "crimes against the loyalist community".

(GMcG)