Stevens Inquiry: At a glance

Stevens Inquiry: At a glance

The key points from the publication of the Stevens Inquiry into collusion in Northern Ireland.

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The Stevens Inquiry
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Security force collusion with loyalist paramilitary killers led to a number of murders in Northern Ireland.

The killing of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane and another Belfast man, student Brian Lambert, "could have been prevented" if the security forces had not been involved in collusion.

The report said: "We have identified serious shortcomings, highlighting collusion."

Collusion is defined as the failure to keep records, the absence of accountability, withholding of intelligence and evidence and the involvement of intelligence agents in murder.

The Stevens team into collusion said it faced obstruction from its very first day from members of the security forces opposed to the inquiry.

Some major lines of inquiry are at the early stages of investigation.

A former government minister, Douglas Hogg, was compromised in the House of Commons when he said, a month before Mr Finucane's killing, that some solicitors were "unduly sympathetic" to the IRA.

The Stevens team is investigating whether the withholding of evidence from his inquiry was sanctioned, and if so, at what level.

The fire that destroyed his offices in 1990 was a deliberate act of arson.

The full report cannot be released to the public because of the nature of ongoing investigations and possible criminal prosecutions.

Sir John insists that every single word is supported by evidence and documentation.