The publication of the report into the murder of Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane has been delayed for a second time.

Mr Finucane, a high-profile Catholic solicitor, was shot dead by the loyalist paramilitary Ulster Defence Association in front of his family at his home in 1989.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens said on Wednesday he hoped the report would be finalised and delivered before the spring of next year.

The Stevens Inquiry was to have been completed in the summer but was initially postponed until the beginning of November.

Sir John Stevens is leading inquiry into killings

Sir John said: "It is important that these matters are pursued and I'm determined that this report will be absolutely thorough.

"It would be wrong to deliver the findings of this lengthy and complex investigation prematurely."

It is understood a former Army intelligence officer once based in Northern Ireland has yet to be interviewed by the Stevens team.

Sinn Fein's policing spokesman, Gerry Kelly, criticised the delay and said it was further evidence that an independent inquiry was needed.

"We've had two inquiries - we've had the Sampson inquiry, the Stalker inquiry and now two Stevens inquiries," he said.

"There are already being questions asked which is why the family are saying there is enough evidence which is now public fact to argue for an independent public judicial inquiry."

The SDLP's Alex Attwood urged Mr Stevens to "publish his report sooner rather than later".

Since 1989, Sir John Stevens, who is now commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, has been investigating the allegation that elements within military intelligence and the old RUC Special Branch were colluding with loyalist assassination squads.

The RUC became the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) in November last year.

Case dismissed

Only one person has faced charges in connection with Mr Finucane's murder, but the case against William Stobie was dismissed last November through lack of evidence.

Stobie, a self-confessed former Ulster Defence Association (UDA) quartermaster, was murdered by loyalists outside his home in the Glencairn area of Belfast a month later.

The Red Hand Defenders, admitted the killing, and said Stobie had been shot because of "crimes against the loyalist community".

The RHD is a cover name used in the past by the UDA/UFF and the Loyalist Volunteer Force.

Mr Finucane's family has called for an independent public inquiry into the killing.

Last November, Northern Ireland Secretary John Reid said an international judge would be appointed to decide if such an inquiry was necessary.

But in February this year, on the 13th anniversary of her husband's death, Geraldine Finucane said she believed this would only slow down the process of finding out what happened.

A BBC Panorama programme earlier this year investigated allegations that British military intelligence units colluded with loyalist paramilitaries in several murders, including that of Mr Finucane.