Man to appear in court charged in connection with prison officer murder

A 36-year-old man will appear in court today charged in connection with the murder of a prison officer in the North.

David Black (aged 52) was shot dead by dissident republicans as he drove to work on a motorway in Co Armagh on November 1.

The suspect, who was detained in Co Tyrone yesterday, has been charged with terrorism charges and is will appear at Lisburn Magistrates Court this morning.

Mr Black, a father-of-two, worked at the high-security Maghaberry jail in Co Antrim where dissident republicans had been on a no-wash protest over strip searches.

He was the first prison officer murdered in the North for 20 years.

Two other people, a man aged 44 and a woman aged 31 were also detained by gardaí in Dublin yesterday.

The pair were being held under section 30 of the Offences of the State Act 1939 at Ballymun garda station.

A dissident paramilitary group calling itself the new IRA claimed responsibility for Mr Black's murder.