A former journalist gave police the information which led to a man being charged with murdering Belfast solicitor Mr Pat Finucane, a court heard yesterday.
Mr Neil Mulholland, who used to work for Sunday Life in Belfast and is now a civil servant in the Northern Ireland Office, passed on the information, a prosecution lawyer said.
The disclosure came during a High Court bail application by Mr William Stobie (48), of Forthriver Road, Belfast, who was a Special Branch informer when Mr Finucane was shot by the UFF in 1989.
The lawyer said Mr Mulholland had interviewed Mr Stobie in June 1990. Some months later he heard an appeal by police for information about the Finucane murder and contacted them.
He was interviewed on September 7th 1990, but declined to make a statement substantiating his allegations. However, the police arrested Mr Stobie who denied any involvement in the murder and he was released.
Last April the Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Mr John Stevens, was asked to reinvestigate the Finucane murder. His detectives re-interviewed Mr Mulholland, who made a lengthy statement and produced his notes of the 1990 interview with Mr Stobie.
The lawyer said that as a result of the statement provided by Mr Mulholland it was the police view that Mr Stobie was present when Mr Finucane's murder was planned; that he supplied the weapons and was involved in recovering them after the killing.
She said bail was strongly opposed because of the seriousness of the charge and the likelihood that Mr Stobie would abscond.
Mr Peter Irvine, for Mr Stobie, said that as a Special Branch informer Mr Stobie had told his handlers that a "top Provo" was to be murdered but did not know who it was to be.
"On the evening of the murder he handed out two weapons and then contacted his handlers but they took no action to try to stop the murder taking place or to arrest the persons concerned or seize the murder weapons," said Mr Irvine.
He said Mr Stobie became suspicious of his Special Branch handlers after finding two guns in his attic. He was charged with unlawful possession but found not guilty.
He said Mr Stobie thought his handlers regarded him as a liability. It was then he told Mr Mulholland he was to write the story should anything happen to him.
Mr Irvine said there was no new evidence against Mr Stobie. "One is left with some concern as to why this prosecution is brought against him at this particular time," he said.
Mr Justice Sheil said that in light of the seriousness of the charge he would refuse to grant bail.