Coroner is calling Arlene suspect

Arlene Arkinson went missing after attending a disco in County Donegal

The man acquitted of murdering Tyrone schoolgirl Arlene Arkinson will be called to give evidence at her inquest.

A preliminary hearing in Londonderry heard Robert Howard will be called as a witness to the coroner's court.

Arlene, 15, from Castlederg, vanished after a night out in Donegal in August 1994. Her body has never been found.

In 2005, Howard, a convicted killer, rapist and child abuser, was cleared of her murder. On Wednesday, the coroner said he was satisfied Arlene was dead.

Coroner John Leckey told the hearing the death had happened in Northern Ireland.

He said Arlene's body could not be recovered because the person believed to be responsible had not given sufficient information to the police.

Proceedings were adjourned pending a report from the police ombudsman's office into the police's handling of the case.

In October 2003, Howard was found guilty of murdering Hannah Williams, from Deptford, in south London, whose body was found in a cement works in Northfleet, Kent, in March 2002.