US court delays release of NI sex offender

A court in the United States has ruled that a former civil servant in the North must remain in prison pending the outcome of a review of his sentence for sex offences.

Stan Mallon, the former head of the Ulster Scots Agency, was due to be released from prison today, but the US authorities are seeking to have his sentence increased.

Mr Mallon was jailed for 21 months after trying to arrange sex with a teenage girl he contacted via the Internet.

He travelled to Chicago to meet the girl only to find that he was snared by a police operation set up to catch Internet paedophiles.

Prosecutors in the United States want the courts to increase his sentence to between 31 and 41 months.