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Man is charged over Devlin attack | |
(about 9 hours later) | |
A man has been remanded in custody in relation to an attack which led to the murder of a Belfast teenager. | |
Nigel Brown, 24, from the Whitewell Road, Newtownabbey, is accused of attempted grievous bodily harm on a friend of Thomas Devlin. | |
Thomas, 15, was stabbed close to his home in August 2005. | |
Mr Brown was remanded in custody at Belfast Magistrates Court. A detective told the court it was believed the attack was fuelled by sectarianism. | |
The accused was among seven people questioned over the weekend as part of the hunt for the killer of the schoolboy, attacked as he and two friends walked home after buying sweets. | |
Those detained included the senior Progressive Unionist Party representative and former Northern Ireland Assembly member, Billy Hutchinson. They were released from police custody pending a report. | |
Mr Brown was charged over the attack on Jonathan McKee, a friend of Thomas who also suffered knife injuries. | |
A detective inspector told the court that another man apart from Brown was suspected of actually inflicting the wounds. | |
Instead, he is alleged to have been wielding a club or stick with which he tried to hit Mr McKee about the head. | |
The detective confirmed the accused had been questioned previously as part of the investigation and gave details on the new information which provoked his rearrest. | |
"Covert recordings of discussions and conversations he hadwith others which police would say demonstrate his involvement," he said. | |
"The new evidence on which he was arrested on 19 October, was based on covert surveillance." | |
A lawyer representing Mr Brown argued that police believed his client played a lesser role on the attack on Thomas's friend. | |
Bail was applied for, but refused by the magistrate. |
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