The North's Police Ombudsman has found no evidence to support claims that an off-duty RUC officer shot and killed a 16-year-old girl in Co Armagh 15 years ago.

Relatives of a teenage girl shot dead by a police officer’s gun in the North were today hoping a new report will recommend an investigation by an outside force.

The North's Police Ombudsman, Nuala O’Loan, has uncovered more than 10 RUC investigations, including several murder probes, which she believes are seriously flawed since her appointment in 1999.

A major new inquiry has been launched into how police investigated the unsolved killing of a teenage girl in Northern Ireland more than a decade ago, it was confirmed tonight.