Murder suspect’s arrest after 13 years

A 51-YEAR-OLD man has been arrested on suspicion of murdering teenager Charlene Downes who vanished more than a decade ago.

Charlene was 14 when she disappeared in Blackpool on Nov 1 2003, but CCTV footage of her last movements was only released last month. The suspect, who lived in the area at the time, was in custody yesterday for questioning.

Officers made several arrests for historical sexual offences last year during a case that has become the largest and longest investigation in Lancashire Police’s history, involving numerous media appeals and a £100,000 reward offered. But they were said to not be directly connected to Charlene’s murder as the probe into the teenager’s disappearance is also looking at the wider issue of child sexual exploitation in the resort. No trace of her has ever been found but detectives believed her body was chopped up and had “gone into kebabs” at a takeaway in the seaside town.

Last month her parents Karen and Robert vowed to sue the force after the crucial CCTV footage sat in their archives for 12 years.

In 2007 Ilyad Albattikhi, a kebab shop boss, was acquitted of Charlene’s murder and co-defendant Mohammed Reveshi was acquitted of helping dispose of her body.

A planned retrial in 2008 was dropped due to lack of evidence and forensic blunders. The two men were paid almost £250,000 each in compensation.