Geraldine Finucane said this afternoon, “This new information from Alan Simpson is very important and supports our campaign for an independent public judicial inquiry into Pat’s murder.

Mr Simpson has confirmed that the RUC at the highest level was involved in preventing a proper investigation into Pat’s murder. This has to be considered in the light of the RUC’s threats to Pat’s life before he was murdered, the RUC involvement in Douglas Hogg’s statement on 19 Jan 1989 when Hogg accused solicitors of ‘being unduly sympathetic to the IRA ‘, and the RUC Special Branch agents that were directly involved in the murder. It is now very clear from the many researches by investigative journalists that the RUC and their agents and the British Army and their agents were involved in this murder. The fact that an Assistant Chief Constable of the RUC can instruct a senior investigating officer to obstruct the investigation into the murder is so serious as to require a public inquiry in itself .

Our legal team is currently involved in discussions with the NIO in relation to the proposed structure of the Inquiry. Mr Simpson’s new information emphasises that the full truth about Pat’s murder can only be obtained by identifying relevant witnesses and requiring them to produce their relevant documentation for inspection and to give evidence in public.”