The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in Northern Ireland was today reconsidering whether to call the key witness in the trial of a man charged with the murder of Belfast solicitor Patrick Finucane 12 years ago.
The announcement came at Belfast Crown Court after Lord Chief Justice Sir Robert Carswell asked the DPP to take a fresh look at its decision to call former journalist Mr Neil Mulholland, following evidence that he could become suicidal if forced to testify.
If the DPP decides not to call Mr Mulholland, the trial of former RUC informer Mr William Stobie will probably collapse.
The court heard yesterday that Mr Mulholland could become suicidal if forced to give evidence. The judge agreed today the risk of Mr Mulholland suffering irreversible consequences appeared to be "very real".
The DPP would also have to consider the usefulness of Mr Mulholland's evidence, the reliability of which, according to another consultant psychiatrist who had treated him, "may be questionable", Sir Robert said.
The case was further adjourned until next Monday to enable the DPP to consider how to proceed.
Mr Stobie (51), a former quartermaster in the Ulster Defence Association, was charged with the murder in 1999 after a fresh investigation into the case by a team headed by the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir John Stevens.
Mr Mulholland, who was then working for the Belfast-based Sunday Life, interviewed Mr Stobie in the early 1990s. He later gave a statement to the Stevens investigation team saying Mr Stobie had told him Mr Finucane was the killers' intended target.
Mr Stobie has always denied this and said he told his Special Branch handlers, ahead of the murder, that he knew there was going to be a killing but that he did not know who the target was.
PA