Finucane assassin 'could be free within months'
A loyalist assassin-turned police informer who admitted gunning down Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane could be back on the streets within months, it emerged tonight.
Ken Barrett’s guilty plea for one of the most controversial killings in three decades of bloodshed in Northern Ireland intensified pressure on the British Government to hold a public inquiry based on overwhelming evidence that police and military intelligence colluded in the February 1989 shooting.
Barrett, who is being held in isolation for his own safety at Maghaberry Prison near Lisburn, Co Antrim, will be told on Friday how long he must serve of a mandatory life sentence.
But because the shooting was carried out before the April 1998 Good Friday Agreement, he may be eligible for release as early as next May if he guarantees to stay away from all paramilitary involvement.
