Finucane accused 'on death list'

Pat Finucane was killed at his home in 1989

The man accused of murdering Belfast lawyer Pat Finucane is himself on a terrorist death list, a court has been told.

A continuing remand hearing in Belfast Magistrates' Court was told that William Alfred Stobie, 48, had been informed by police he was being targeted by paramilitaries.

Mr Stobie, from Forthriver Road in Belfast, was charged last June with murdering the Belfast solicitor in his home in 1989. He has denied the charge.

However, there has been criticism about a delay in dealing with the case.

At Wednesday's hearing, Mr Stobie's lawyer Joe Rice said he had to bring a number of "disturbing facts" to the court's attention.

He said Mr Stobie had been informed by the RUC that his life was "under threat" and he was the "target of paramilitaries".

William Stobie: Murder charge

Mr Rice also revealed his client had applied to join the Key Person Protection Scheme but the request was still being considered.

He said that Mr Stobie's car had been burned before Christmas and that it had been stolen on Tuesday night.

Mr Rice added that Stobie regarded the theft of his car as part of the "process of villification" he had endured during a 10-month delay in the Director of Public Prosecutions deciding if the murder case would be brought to trial or dropped.

The magistrate Harry McKibbin voiced "great alarm" at the latest developments.

Mr Rice requested that that the Stevens Inquiry, which is investigating the murder, should explain the growing delay in dealing with the case.

But the magistrate said that if no final decision had been reached by the next court hearing, the prosecution should give a "full explanation".

The accused was remanded on four weeks continuing bail.