Coroner says schoolgirl murdered in Bundoran was victim of child killer Robert Howard

The killer had a long history of violent sexual offences that should've led to his arrest sooner, the coroner said.

A coroner has ruled that convicted child killer Robert Howard was responsible for the murder of 15-year-old Arlene Arkinson in 1994. Coroner Brian Sherrard told Omagh courthouse that on the basis of probability the schoolgirl – whose body was never found – was murdered by the sex offender-killer, known for serially raping girls across the UK and Ireland. Arlene, from Castlederg, Co Tyrone, had been on a night out in Bundoran, Co Donegal when she vanished. She was last seen in a car driven by Howard, according to multiple reports. Following a long-running inquest, Sherrard found that she died on the morning of Sunday, August 14, 1994. [caption id="attachment_394033" align="alignnone" width="258"] Arlene Arkinson. Credit: PSNI[/caption] He told the court: "There is no record of her being alive after that date. "Robert Howard, a violent sexual offender and the last person to be seen with Arlene in the early hours of August 14 1994, was responsible for her death. The mechanism of death is unknown. "The court believes the death occurred in this jurisdiction, but the precise location remains unknown. However the court is confident that her remains were secreted in this jurisdiction as Howard was familiar with the area around Castlederg... and time was limited." He also debunked several rumours and theories around her disappearance and paid tribute to her siblings, who cared for her following her mother's death in 1990, for their "exhaustive" efforts in seeking justice for Arlene.