Two face trial over Devlin murder

Thomas Devlin died in a knife attack close to his home in August 2005

Two men are to stand trial for the murder of north Belfast schoolboy Thomas Devlin and the attempted murder of his friend, a judge has ruled.

Gary Taylor of Ross House in Mount Vernon and Nigel Brown, formerly of Whitewell Road, are charged with the attack in August 2005.

The boys were set upon as they returned from a late night trip to buy sweets at a garage in the Fortwilliam area.

The court heard that a senior lawyer described evidence as "compelling".

A prosecution barrister claimed that police reconstructions, based on CCTV footage of the suspects, fitted closely with when Thomas was stabbed to death.

Defence lawyers claimed it was not strong enough, with a senior Crown counsel in Northern Ireland said to back this assessment.

But after taking a week to study the papers, District Judge George Conner said he was satisfied there was enough material to put the two men on trial.

Both the accused spoke only to confirm they did not want to say anything in response to the charges or give any evidence.

They were remanded in custody to go before Belfast Crown Court on a date to be fixed.