Teen facing extradition in rapes probe

A 17-year-old is facing extradition from Ireland to England over the rape of three girls at a horse fair last year.

The youth, from Crory, Ferns, Co Wexford, was arrested by gardaí under a European Arrest Warrant.

Extradition proceedings are now due to get under way.

Detectives in Appleby, Cumbria, want to question the teenager over the brutal attacks on three young girls on June 5, 2005.

Two 14-year-old girls and one aged 13 who were visiting Appleby Horse Fair were raped in broad daylight in a secluded area of the town’s Belgravia estate.

Cumbria Police believe four youths took part in the attack and a fifth is believed to have watched as the girls were raped. Police believe the attackers were travellers.

The incident happened when the three girls were befriended by the gang and persuaded to walk along a riverbank with them. A man and woman in their 50s intervened, believing the girls were being harassed.

The youths left the girls but caught up with them again a short while later. The group walked to a quiet cul-de-sac in the Belgravia area where the attack took place.

The historic Appleby Horse Fair attracts thousands of visitors from all over Ireland and the UK every year.

The girls, believed to be from Co Durham, contacted police after the fair and an investigation has been under way since then.

Following an appeal on the BBC’s Crimewatch programme in June this year, detectives received more than 100 calls with information.