February 21, 2004 Investigations Feared to be British Government 'Stalling'
by Barry McCaffrey, Irish News

For the last 15 years the British government has blocked calls for an independent inquiry into Pat Finucane's murder.

For much of that period it claimed that any inquiry would prejudice investigations by Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens.

However, in 1999 Amnesty International commissioned three human rights barristers to ascertain whether an independent inquiry would indeed prejudice a criminal investigation.

The barristers concluded that such a probe would not prejudice any criminal investigation, noting that the British government had set up a public inquiry into the killing of London teenager Stephen Lawrence while a Metropolitan Police murder investigation was ongoing.

At an estimated cost of more than £12 million Sir John has conducted three investigations into allegations of security force collusion with loyalist paramilitaries over the last 15 years.

In 1989 the then RUC chief constable Sir Hugh Annesley first asked Sir John to investigate allegations of collusion after loyalists were found to be in possession of large numbers of security force intelligence files.

In later years, as evidence of security force wrongdoing in the Finucane killing emerged, government spokesmen claimed that this wide-ranging Stevens One inquiry had also fully investigated the solicitor's murder.

It only became clear much later that this was not the case. Although Stevens One was completed in May 1990, its findings were never made public.

A published summary found that while there had been collusion, it had been neither "widespread nor institutionalised". Mr Finucane's murder was not mentioned.

And while the Stevens One investigation said it had found no evidence of widespread collusion, it later emerged that nearly 2,000 security force files were in the hands of loyalists.

Stevens One led to 47 prosecutions, and although most of these related to loyalist paramilitaries, the figure also included UDR soldiers. No RUC officer was prosecuted over the leaks.

Sir John did, however, stumble across evidence that another branch of the security services had been involved with loyalist paramilitaries.

In January 1990 the Stevens team arrested Brian Nelson. While Nelson was known to be a senior UDA intelligence officer, it was not until he admitted being an agent for the British army's shadowy Force Research Unit (FRU) that security force involvement in Mr Finucane's murder started to emerge.

At his trial Nelson faced 35 charges, including aiding and abetting murder, but when these were drastically reduced he agreed to plead guilty.

He was not convicted over the Finucane killing but was sentenced to 10 years in prison and served five.

A second investigation, dubbed Stevens Two, was set up after a BBC documentary, The Dirty War, revealed how Nelson had warned his army handlers that the UDA was targeting Mr Finucane.

It revealed that, far from being a 'renegade', Nelson had been actively assisted by his handlers in collating intelligence for the UDA and UVF.

This came amid other allegations of collusion and the director of public prosecutions wrote to Sir Hugh suggesting that these matters again be investigated.

Although Stevens Two lasted nearly three years, little is known about what new evidence, if any, was uncovered.

Three reports went to the DPP but resulted in no prosecutions. The Stevens II report has never been published.

Throughout this period the Finucane family and human rights groups continued to gather evidence to support an independent inquiry dealing specifically with the solicitor's murder.

In 1999 a new report into the killing was presented to the governments by the London-based human rights group, British Irish Rights Watch (BIRW).

While BIRW had wanted to see an inquiry as a result of its report, the document was instead passed to the RUC and the then chief constable, Sir Ronnie Flanagan, called Sir John back to Northern Ireland.

The decision to have the murder investigation reopened, as opposed to calling an inquiry, angered the Finucane family. They insisted that they would have no contact with Sir John, branding his investigation a government "stalling tactic".

There was further controversy when in April 1999 Sir John held a press conference to launch his probe and declared that neither of his first two inquiries had investigated Mr Finucane's murder.

In a statement which contradicted the stated government line throughout the 1990s, he said: "At no time was I given the authority by either the chief constable of the RUC or the DPP to investigate the murder of Pat Finucane."

Although Stevens Three is nearly five years old, no-one has been convicted of Mr Finucane's murder.

UDA/UFF members Billy Stobie and Ken Barrett, who were also revealed to be informants for RUC Special Branch, are the only people to have been charged with the killing.

But Stobie's trial collapsed when the Crown's main witness refused to give evidence. Less than a month later Stobie was shot dead by the UDA/UFF.

A major development in the Finucane case came in February last year when Sir John delivered the report from his latest investigation. The report stated officially for the first time that there had been security force collusion in the murder.

Although Sir John has forwarded files on 20 serving and former security force members to the DPP for possible prosecution, no-one from the DPP's office was last night available to state whether anyone was to be prosecuted.

In July 2002 the British and Irish governments appointed retired Canadian judge Peter Cory to determine whether there should be independent inquiries into six murder cases involving allegations of security force collusion.

At that time both governments pledged to abide by Judge Cory's findings.

The Irish government published the two reports it received from Mr Cory in October last year. The British government has refused to publish any of the four reports it has received, claiming that it is studying "legal and security implications" before any publication.

Judge Cory took the unusual step last month of warning that he would go public if the British government attempted to renege on its commitment to publish.

"I have made noises that I considered appropriate at this time and I suppose there may come a time when I make more noise," he said.