Family hope for inquest date
Arlene Arkinson
A sister of murdered Castlederg teenager Arlene Arkinson has described the delay in the opening of an inquest into her death as “mental torture”.
Kathleen Arkinson made the comment amid hopes that a timetable for the opening of the inquest will be agreed this week.
15 year-old Arlene Arkinson went missing following a night out in Donegal in August 1994. Her remains have never been found despite a number of searches.
Ms Arkinson said the inquest had been due to begin in November 2011 but has been hit by a series of legal delays. “It has been mental torture for us as a family,” she said. “Every time a door opens for us it is closed again. We get our hopes raised only to have them knocked down again. We have been fighting for this for six years and were told that it would be in November 2011 then when that passed we were told it would be March 2012 and then that passed by too.
“We will be travelling up to Belfast tomorrow and hopefully we will get a date for the opening of the inquest. We are hopeful but past experience has told us that we could be waiting longer,” she said. Ms Arkinson also said that her family are determined to keep campaigning for the truth about her sister’s death.
“This has been going on far too long. We just want to know the truth, We want to know the details, that is what an inquest is for and we are entitled to that truth.
“It has been a long road and may be longer still but I am not giving up hope,” she said.
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Monday 20 May 2013
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