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The government has been given extra time to decide whether to establish a public inquiry into the 1989 murder of Pat Finucane.

Mr Finucane, 39, was a prominent solicitor who was shot at home by Ulster Defence Association (UDA) paramilitaries in front of his wife and children.

A deadline for action set in July has been extended to 27 September by the Court of Appeal in Belfast. However, a decision could come next week.

The Secretary of State Hilary Benn is currently planning to meet Mr Finucane’s widow, Geraldine, on Tuesday.

Mr Benn's lawyer told the court: “The indications I am receiving are that we are on schedule to communicate a preferred position by Tuesday of next week.”

He added if the government had made no decision by then, the meeting would be rescheduled.

For that reason, the government was asking for the extension until 27 September as a definitive “end point”.

Mrs Finucane’s lawyer said: “She has had to battle for every little bit of progress over 35 years.

“While apologising for collusion in Pat Finucane’s murder, the government has not yet established a mechanism capable of unearthing precisely what it was apologising for, or delivering accountability.”

She added Mrs Finucane had not objected to giving Mr Benn extra time, given he only recently took up the role.

However, the lawyer went on: “Calling her in next Tuesday for some kind of progress report meeting is respectfully a waste of everyone’s time.

“If the matters are as advanced as the Secretary of State says they are, it is time for a firm date on which Mrs Finucane will get her decision.”