New evidence from the Stevens inquiry has emerged which proves that a gun used in the murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane was handed back to the British Army by the RUC.

The previously unpublished papers highlight collusion between the Ulster police force, then known as the RUC, and the loyalist terrorists who killed Finucane in 1989.

The Irish Independent reports that the new details have emerged about the links between the RUC and the loyalist killers who targeted the 38-year-old.

Read more Irish news stories

The paper says that a previously unseen chapter from the Stevens Inquiry stated a Browning pistol was recovered by police but then given back to the British Army.

The loyalist killers had originally stolen the weapon from the British Army.

Finucane’s son Michael told the paper: “Unfortunately, many other families are in a similar position to ourselves where they are finding out after the fact because the material has been held back for so long.”