Finucane report held up by six months

The report into the murder of the Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane will require a further six months, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir John Stevens, said last night.

Mr Finucane was shot by a loyalist paramilitary gang in front of his family in 1989. No-one has been convicted of the murder but Republicans have alleged collusion by the Royal Ulster Constabulary and British military intelligence.

His widow, Geraldine Finucane, said last night that she was "very, very suspicious" that the report had been held up because of the political crisis in Northern Ireland. She said: "It does not inspire any confidence in the hope that they are prepared to bring the truth out into the open. I am confident Sir John Stevens wants to do a thorough job, but I am afraid his report is being manipulated."

Sir John said he needed to carry out further inquiries, adding: "It would be wrong to deliver the findings of this lengthy and complex investigation prematurely." His report will be handed to the Director of Public Prosecutions in Belfast next spring.