Ex-tout admits to Finucane slay

But his guilty plea deprived the Finucane family and public of scrutinizing claims that British military intelligence and/or the police instigated, encouraged, and facilitated the murder.
In a hushed courtroom, and speaking in a low voice, Ken Barrett, who is 41, pleaded guilty on Monday to 12 charges. He will be sentenced later this week and is expected to apply for a reduced sentence under the early-release program created under the Good Friday agreement.
Although the murder charge carries a mandatory life sentence, it is expected Barrett will soon be freed as part of a backroom deal to prevent him from speaking in open court about his involvement with the RUC Special Branch.
He has already been taped claiming that the police encouraged the murder, that they provided help in targeting the lawyer, and suggested an escape route on the night of the killing to avoid roadblocks.
In an even more murky development, both police and loyalist sources are insisting Barrett did not pull the trigger on Finucane, although he has made a detailed confession stating how he stood over the dying lawyer and pumped bullets into his body.
This throws up several questions: why Barrett should plead guilty of actually carrying out a murder he was involved in only peripherally, who the real murderer was, and what information he might have, if any, about British involvement?

Final obstacle gone?
Campaigners for a public inquiry into claims of loyalist/British army/police collusion in the murder said the guilty pleas remove the final vestige of excuse for the British government not to hold a full independent public inquiry.
The Finucane family, including the lawyer’s wife Geraldine, who was shot in the ankle during the murder, has always said they were not concerned to see the gunmen in court. Rather, they want those behind them to be made accountable.
Barrett was one of two gunmen who broke into Finucane’s North Belfast home in February 1989 and shot him 14 times in front of his wife and their three children as they shared Sunday dinner.
The British government had promised to launch a public inquiry following the conclusion of the Barrett prosecution, as demanded by retired Canadian judge, Peter Cory. Later they said such an inquiry could prejudice Barrett’s trial.
The Finucane family is now concerned that other spurious charges may be laid against any one or all of the 20-plus people named to the Northern Ireland Director of Public Prosecutions by an outside police inquiry into the murder led by London Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir John Stevens.
Michael Finucane, the lawyer’s son, insisted however, that when Barrett is sentenced there will be no further impediment to the establishment of an independent judicial inquiry.
“We expect, and indeed demand, that the British government finally honor the agreement made,” he said. “The conviction of Ken Barrett has done nothing to lift the lid on who directed, ordered, financed, and facilitated the murder of my father.
“We are as much in the dark after this prosecution regarding the exact involvement of the security forces and security services as we were beforehand. These are issues that can only be clarified in an inquiry.”
Commenting on the guilty plea, Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams said that “it removed the bogus argument which the British government have been using to prevent a full independent inquiry into the murder from going ahead.”
The SDLP leader, Mark Durkan, said the British government had run out of excuses for failing to hold an inquiry.
“The British government has stonewalled all the way on this one, but the guilty plea by Ken Barrett removes the last stone,” he said.
Monday’s court admission by Barrett to killing Finucane was not his first. A BBC “Panorama” documentary broadcast two years ago included taped footage of Barrett claiming the RUC had encouraged the UDA to carry out the fatal attack.