Long path from bloody murder to justice

Pat Finucane’s murder was one of the most notorious killings in Northern Ireland’s bloody history.

Pat Finucane’s murder was one of the most notorious killings in Northern Ireland’s bloody history.

Loyalist terrorists pumped 14 bullets into the Belfast solicitor in front of his family 15 years ago.

As well as being a nakedly sectarian assassination, the crime carried shocking allegations of security force collusion.

Here are the key dates in the attempts to unravel a sordid, secretive operation:

:: February 1989 – Pat Finucane is shot dead, hit 14 times. His wife Geraldine is injured in the foot.

:: September 1989 – John Stevens, then deputy chief constable of Cambridgeshire Police, is appointed to carry out an investigation into breaches of security by the security forces.

:: 1992 – UDA intelligence officer and former soldier Brian Nelson is revealed as an Army agent who tipped off his handlers about a plan to kill Mr Finucane during his trial on five counts of conspiracy to murder. He is jailed for 10 years.

:: 1993 – The Stevens Inquiry was followed by Stevens Two, when the Director of Public Prosecutions asked for further investigation of matters raised in his first inquiry.

:: April 1998 – The British government rejects a call by the UN for an independent inquiry into the Finucane murder.

:: April 1999 – Stevens Three. John Stevens, then deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, is appointed to carry out an investigation into the Finucane murder.

:: June 1999 – Former UDA quartermaster William Stobie is charged with the murder of Mr Finucane.

:: October 1999 – A journalist wins a High Court action against an order to hand over notes of an interview with Stobie carried out soon after the killing of Mr Finucane.

:: November 2001 – Stobie, who admitted supplying the guns used in the killing but denied murder, walks free from court after the case against him collapses as a key witness refuses to give evidence.

Two months later he was shot dead by loyalist gunmen. Ken Barrett, fearing he could be the next victim, is whisked out of Northern Ireland by the Stevens Inquiry team.

:: April 2002 – Retired Canadian judge Peter Cory is appointed by the British government to carry out an inquiry into six murders – including Mr Finucane’s - where there were allegations of security force collusion. He is yet to report.

:: May 2002 – Huge Orde, in day-to-day control of the Stevens Inquiry into the Finucane murder, is appointed as Northern Ireland’s new chief constable.

:: April 2003 – Six days before the Stevens Report is issued, British agent Brian Nelson dies of lung cancer in Wales.

:: April 2003 – John Stevens confirms damning levels of security force collusion in the Finucane murder.

:: May 2003 – Barrett is arrested and charged with the murder of Mr Finucane.

:: April 2004 – Judge Cory concludes the military and police intelligence knew of the murder plot but failed to intervene. He recommends a public inquiry.

The British government refuses until the criminal proceedings against Barrett are completed.

:: September 2004 – Barrett pleads guilty to the killing as he goes on trial in Belfast.

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