A toddler murdered in the North may have been sexually assaulted before her death, a court heard today.

Two new cases of children who died in hospital in the North are to be the subject of a public inquiry, it was revealed today.

A pensioner arrested in connection with the shooting of a five-year-old boy in a school playground has been released.

SCHOOLBOY Darragh Somers who survived a .22 bullet wound to the head left hospital yesterday with a thumbs-up sign.

Schoolboy Darragh Somers who survived a .22 bullet wound to the head left hospital today with a thumbs-up sign.

An anguished father whose child was hit in the head by a stray bullet today pleaded with the gunman to own up and end the family’s torment.

A five-year-old boy shot in the head in a school playground is now singing and looking forward to watching television, it emerged today.

The five-year-old boy shot in the head in the playground of a Northern Ireland school week ago has shown signs of improvement, it was revealed tonight.

Forensic experts have examined 45 rifles in an attempt to trace the gun used in the shooting of a boy in a school playground, it was revealed today.

Gun dealers have been questioned in a bid to trace the owner of a rifle used in the accidental shooting of a schoolboy in the North, it was revealed today.

A school in the North where a five-year-old boy was shot and injured in the playground was reopened today.

POLICE are testing legally-held guns they have seized in a bid to find the person who shot a five-year-old Fermanagh boy in the head as he played in a school playground.

THE agony continued yesterday for the parents of a five-year-old boy shot in the head in a primary school playground in the North.

A public inquiry into the sudden deaths of three children after routine treatment in hospitals in the North is opening today.