£5.5k spent to transfer killer

THE authorities paid over £5,500 (€6,650) to hire a private plane for serial child killer Robert Black’s trial, it has been revealed.

Black, aged 64, received “Rolls-Royce treatment” as he was transported for trial from England.

The paedophile must serve a minimum of 25 years for murdering Jennifer Cardy, aged 9, who was snatched as she cycled to a friend’s house in Ballinderry, Co Antrim, in 1981.

Black, who has been convicted of killing four young girls and is being investigated over a fifth disappearance, is serving 12 life sentences at Wakefield Prison in England. This includes jail terms for murder and kidnapping handed down at Belfast Crown Court last month.

Northern justice minister David Ford said £5,675 was paid by London’s Department of Justice for a private plane to transport Black to Belfast for the trial.

Democratic Unionist politician Maurice Morrow said: “I am utterly appalled at the overt expenditure in this case. It is simply outside the realms of reasoning to have the taxpayer shell out this amount of money.”

The legal aid bill for the case is £350,000 and will climb further when counsel submit full accounts.