A SISTER of the missing Castlederg teenager Arlene Arkinson has lost her claim for damages for unlawful detention by police during a three day search operation of her Co Tyrone home in April 1996.
Stephen Walsh, the father of Ms Arkinson's four children, also lost his claim for unlawful detention and a further claim for his unlawful arrest on suspicion of the teenager's murder.
The 15 year-old disappeared in 1994 after attending a disco in Bundoran, Co Donegal. Her body has never been found.
She was last seen in the company of convicted child killer Robert Howard, who died in prison in 2015.
The reserved judgment was delivered at the County Court in Derry today by Judge Elizabeth McCaffrey.
When the claims for damages was heard last December, a now retired police officer told Judge McCaffrey that detectives from the then RUC investigating the teenager's disappearance and murder in August 1994 received information from a reliable source in April 1996 which led them to search Ms Arkinson's home.
Judge McCaffrey said today that when the then RUC received that information they were justified in carrying out the search operation.
She said police were also justified in questioning Mr Walsh on suspicion of Arlene Arkinson's murder, even though he was later released without being charged.
The judge also said the fact that relatives of the plaintiffs, as well as their solicitor, were able to visit them in their home during the three-day long search operation undermined their claims that they had been illegally detained against their will.
Kathleen Arkinson was instead awarded £1,500 plus interest for damages caused to her home in Castlederg during the search with a similar sum also awarded to Mr Walsh.
