Robert Howard ‘admitted killing Arlene Arkinson’

Robert Howard admitted killing Arlene Arkinson in prison, a coroner’s court heard on Wednesday.

The convicted paedophile was overheard in prison in 2009 saying that he knew he had got away with the murder.

"On my first, I know I got away with it," he said.

A year later, he was overheard saying: "I thought I got away with it ... I did."

The revelation of the confessions came as the detective who led the Arkinson inquiry for nine years gave evidence to the Belfast court.

Chief Superintendent Raymond Murray said: "This was an implicit admission at the very least, if not an explicit one, that he had got away with murder.

"The only murder that he had ever been acquitted of in a court of law, that we know of, was Arlene Arkinson."

Fifteen-year-old Arlene, from Castlederg, Co Tyrone, vanished after a night-out across the border in Co Donegal.

She was last seen being driven off during the early hours of August 14, 1994, down a country road with the convicted child killer. Her body has never been found.

The court heard disturbing conversational extracts in which Howard appeared to recount murder, clean-up and disposal of a body were also read to the inquest.

Howard was quoted as saying: "See, I couldn't hold her ... I got her over to the sink that's just inside.

He added: "She's strong" and "I bound her".

The conversations were reported to police over a three-year period between 2009 and 2012, although the source of the information was not disclosed to the court.

At the time, Howard was serving a life sentence for the murder of South London teenager Hannah Williams.

He further stated: "She was covered ... feeling really guilty ... it can last forever, covered in blood ... violence."

At one point Coroner Brian Sherrard halted proceedings when Kathleen Arkinson, the missing schoolgirl's sister, broke down in tears.

In 2005, Howard was found not guilty of murdering Arlene by a jury which was never told of his lengthy criminal history.

He remained the prime suspect in the high-profile case until his death in prison last year aged 71.

The court was told he had expressed concerns about double jeopardy and was overheard claiming: "It doesn't matter because I was found not guilty but now they resurrect the case."

Although police believed the prison conversations were hugely significant, prosecutors did not believe they met the high evidential threshold to overturn the acquittal and commence a re-trial.

Superintendent Murray said he believed Arlene was killed there,on the 14th of August 1994.

The person who murdered her, he said, was Robert Howard.