Serial child killer Robert Black was being held by PSNI detectives in Antrim last night in connection with the murder 24 years ago of Jennifer Cardy (9), from Ballinderry, Co Antrim.
The girl was snatched as she cycled to a friend's house in August 1981. Her red bike was discovered in a field beside a hedge near her home and her body was found six days later by two fishermen, at McKee's Dam, near Hillsborough.
Police said that a 58-year-old man was arrested in connection with the murder. The PSNI would not release his name but informed sources confirmed Black was flown from a high-security prison in England to Northern Ireland to be questioned about the killing.
No one was charged with Jennifer's murder but for over 10 years now Black has been one of the chief suspects. He was questioned a number of times in recent years about the girl's murder and also about other suspected child murders.
Black, a Scot, is serving 10 life sentences for the killings of Susan Maxwell (11), Sarah Harper (10) and Caroline Hogg (5). He was convicted in 1994, having earlier been sentenced to life imprisonment in 1990 for abducting and indecently assaulting a six-year-old girl in Scotland.
He is to serve a minimum of 35 years for the murders. He was also recently questioned about the 1978 disappearance and suspected murder of Genette Tate, aged 13, from Devon, in England.
The PSNI and Devon and Cornwall police have co-operated in their investigations to test for any similarities between the two cases. They hope new technology could lead to a forensic breakthrough in their investigations.
Black, who was previously interviewed by both RUC and PSNI detectives, has refused to co-operate with the murder inquiries although he has hinted that he killed other children. A lorry driver who travelled extensively in Britain and Ireland in the 1970s and 1980s, he is reported to have been in the Hillsborough area around the time Jennifer Cardy disappeared.
Gardaí, investigating the 1977 disappearance of Mary Boyle in Co Donegal, in recent years have also contacted the PSNI to discuss possible links between her case and that of Jennifer Cardy.
Mary Boyle, from Kincasslagh, went missing while she was visiting her grandparents at Cashelard, near Ballyshannon, in March 1977. No trace of her was ever found.
