Forensic experts today carried out a detailed examination of a derelict flat once occupied by a man cleared of murdering a missing schoolgirl in Northern Ireland.

New searches are under way for a missing schoolgirl feared murdered in the North, police revealed today.

An inquest into the death of a schoolgirl who was last seen with a convicted child killer may not start for two years, a court has heard.

A convicted child killer has launched a legal bid to halt an inquest into the death of a schoolgirl he was cleared of murdering.

Police in the North have pledged to do everything they can to recover the body of a murdered schoolgirl as fresh searches for her remains began 17 years after her disappearance.

Fresh searches for a schoolgirl who went missing in the North in 1994 are to begin in the New Year, an inquest heard today.

The North's Police Ombudsman has accused the police of failing to properly investigate the disappearance of 15-year-old Arlene Arkinson in 1994.

A convicted murderer in jail in England is to be called to give evidence at the inquest into the death of a Co Tyrone teenager he was acquitted of murdering, a coroner ruled today.

Forensic scientists today joined a new police search for the body of a missing schoolgirl in the North.

The search for missing schoolgirl Arlene Arkinson was called off today because of flooding.

Police in the North searching for the body of murdered Tyrone girl Arlene Arkinson have said they will carry out further searches.

CONVICTED murderer and serial rapist Robert Howard was last night flown out of the North to serve the remainder of a life sentence for the slaying of a teenage girl in England.

SERIAL sex attacker Robert Howard, who was cleared of murdering schoolgirl Arlene Arkinson, may have been working for the police special branch at the time she disappeared, it was claimed last night.

Gardaí are seeking to question convicted child killer Robert Howard about a series of unsolved murders of women, it emerged today.

A SERIAL rapist, who is serving life for the murder of a teenager, was left at large by police, prosecutors and the courts, according to a new documentary to be screened tonight.

THOUGH an extreme case by any measure, that of serial offender Robert Howard, convicted of murder and rape, holds valuable lessons for all those agencies involved directly, or indirectly, in the criminal justice system.

DEPRAVED killer, Robert Howard, used to prowl riverbanks in the dead of night shooting salmon as they leapt upstream.

Robert Lesarian Howard, from Wolfhill, Co Laois, was sentenced to life in prison in Britain in 2003 for murder of a 15-year-old English schoolgirl, Hannah Williams.

THIS is the innocent woman who married the Irish serial rapist and child killer Robert Howard, who is suspected of killing up to seven women in Britain.

WARNINGS that serial sex offender Robert Howard would commit even more serious crimes were given eight years before he abducted, raped and murdered a 14-year-old schoolgirl.

ROBERT HOWARD always plays the innocent when confronted by detectives in the interrogation room.

DETECTIVES who investigated the murder of Hannah Williams after her body was found in a disused cement works in Kent initially lacked enough evidence to charge their prime suspect, Robert Howard.

DEPRAVED killer Robert Howard strangled schoolgirl Hannah Williams with a 12-metre rope, it was revealed yesterday.

A SERIAL rapist, who is serving a life sentence for the murder of a 14-year-old girl in Britain, was investigated by gardaí in connection with the disappearance and murder of three Irish women, it has emerged.

A man was today cleared of the murder of teenager Arlene Arkinson more than 10 years ago.

A jury was today urged to acquit a man of murdering a schoolgirl who, it was claimed, may not be dead.

A 61-year-old man accused of murdering a schoolgirl who vanished more than 10 years ago went on trial yesterday.

Any child murder probe can draw on international expertise, writes John Breslin.

THE family of a woman whose body was found by police after a four-month search had not given up hope of her safe return.

Land near the home town of missing schoolgirl Arlene Arkinson was searched by police today.

A MAN accused of murdering a missing schoolgirl failed to appear in court yesterday after a prison van he was to travel in broke down.

Police in the North have begun a new search for the body of a Co Tyrone teenager who disappeared after going to a disco in Co Donegal eight years ago.

A 58-year-old man has been charged with the murder of a Northern Ireland teenager who disappeared eight years ago, police said today.