A former loyalist paramilitary double agent has been accused of murdering solicitor Pat Finucane just to get information about secret police operations into the public domain, a court heard today.
As the trial of William Stobie got under way in Belfast his defence announced its intention to have the case halted because no new evidence linking him to the crimes has emerged in over a decade.
Stobie, 50, a former UDA quartermaster denies the murder of Mr Finucane on February 12, 1989, and of the murder of 19-year-old Mr Adam Lambert from County Fermanagh in November 1987 through aiding and abetting, counselling and procuring.
The case is crucial to allegations that the security forces colluded with loyalist paramilitaries in the murder of Catholics in Northern Ireland.
Stobie's claims that he informed his RUC handlers about a murder bid before Mr Finucane was gunned down in front of his family, led to an investigation by Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens.
But as he announced his intention to apply for the case to be halted as an abuse of process in Belfast's Crown Court today, Mr Arthur Harvey QC for Stobie said: "The fundamental submission is that there was nothing new obtained by the Stevens inquiry during the course of their investigation that was not already known to the RUC."
Mr Harvey said the case seemed to be more about putting matters into the public domain simply for the purpose of informing the public how police act.
Files related to the case were presented to Lord Chief Justice Robert Carswell by Mr Harvey to be studied before the case resumes tomorrow.
It is expected that he will then make a formal application for the trial to be stopped.
PA