Man held in double murder probe

A man was arrested today by detectives investigating the murder of two teenagers in the North five years ago.

The 25-year-old is being questioned under the Terrorism Act as part of the inquiry into the stabbing of Andrew Robb, 19, and 18-year-old David McIlwaine.

He was arrested at Coal Island in the Dungannon area of Co Tyrone and is being held in Antrim.

The teenagers were killed in February 2000 after they left a nightclub in Tandragee,Co Armagh, and their bodies dumped at the side of a country road.

Although several arrests have been made, no one has ever been convicted of the murders.

A 54-year-old man was detained on Saturday during a planned raid at his home in Craigavon, Co Armagh.

The man, who was also questioned under the Terrorism Act, was released from custody last night and police said a report will be sent to the Public Prosecution Service.

The frenzied attack on the pair, both from Portadown, came at the height of a loyalist paramilitary feud in the area.

An Ulster Volunteer Force chief was killed outside his home in Portadown a month earlier, and the teenagers were targeted amid fears of a retaliation against the rival Loyalist Volunteer Force.

But police and both victims’ families have stressed neither were LVF members.

The arrests followed a reconstruction on the BBC’s Crimewatch programme last week, when a £10,000 (€14,800) reward for information was offered.