The murder of the Belfast solicitor, Mr Pat Finucane, involved the murky and secret world of informers, a judge declared yesterday when he granted bail to a man accused of the crime.
Mr William Stobie (48), a self-confessed RUC Special Branch informer, had been in custody since June when he was arrested for a second time in connection with Mr Finucane's murder in 1989.
Freeing him yesterday, Mr Justice Sheil said in the High Court in Belfast: "Even if he is convicted of the murder charge there is a real possibility that he will be released next year."
Mr Stobie, from Forthriver Road, Belfast, was freed on his own bail of £1,000 with four sureties of £500 each.
Mr Stobie was first arrested and questioned about the UFF murder of Mr Finucane in 1990 and released without charge. He was rearrested last June by detectives from the Stevens inquiry team brought in to reopen the case.
"In 1990 the police knew who planned and carried out this murder," Mr Stobie's lawyer, Mr Arthur Harvey QC, said yesterday.
Ed Moloney, Northern editor of the Sunday Tribune, said it was clear from yesterday's bail hearing that the authorities were fully aware of the details of Mr Finucane's killing, including who was responsible, as far back as nine years ago.
He called on the Stevens Scotland Yard inquiry team to abandon its attempt to force him to hand over notes of interviews with Mr Stobie. "It is obvious that the Stevens team does not need my notes and never did."