Ken Barrett pleads guilty to Finucane murder
41-year old former police informer Ken Barrett has pleaded guilty to the murder of Catholic solicitor Pat Finucane in 1989 at his trial at Belfast Crown Court this afternoon.
Mr Barrett has previously denied killing Mr Finucane, whose death at the hands of the Ulster Defence Association has been a major point of controversy in Northern Ireland.
Mr Finucane’s wife has been at the forefront of calls for a public inquiry into allegations that the murder was carried out with the collusion of security forces.
The former Canadian judge Peter Cory was appointed by the British and Irish governments in 2001 to look into security service collaboration in murders.
However, the Government has insisted that it cannot proceed with an inquiry until all criminal proceedings relating to the killing are completed.
SDLP home affairs spokesperson Alban Magginness commented on the admission, ” The Barrett trial was the British government’s last excuse for not living up to the commitment it made at Weston Park, and it was totally flimsy excuse.
“The guilty plea in the Barrett trial removes the last fig leaf. The case for a public inquiry was made clearly and unanswerably by the SDLP year ago, and powerfully reinforced by the Stevens report.”
Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams stated, “However unsatisfactory today’s proceedings are they do of course remove the bogus argument which the British government have been using to prevent a full independent inquiry into the murder of Pat Finucane from going ahead.
“In light of today’s development I have been in contact with the British Government to press for an immediate announcement of a full independent
inquiry.”
Mr Barrett has also pleaded guilty to attempting to murder Geraldine Finucane, stealing Army-owned weapons and membership of the outlawed Ulster Freedom Fighters.
