Man sought over flamethrower attack surrenders to priest

DETECTIVES in Northern Ireland last night confirmed that a man being held by police in the Irish Republic was the same man they were seeking to interview over a flamethrower attack on pupils at a school near Belfast. Garnett Stephen Bell was held after giving himself up to a priest in Limerick in the west of Ireland yesterday.

Six teenage boys were hurt in Friday's attack at Sullivan Upper Grammar School, in Holywood, Co Down. One boy remained in a very serious condition in hospital yesterday after suffering burns to 40 per cent of his body. Two more were stable and three have been sent home after treatment.

After the attack, the Royal Ulster Constabulary said it wished to interview Mr Bell, 46, a former pupil. The RUC detective investigating the attack, which happened as sixth-formers were sitting their French A-level examination, was contacted by Irish police to confirm the man's identity. The RUC will want Mr Bell to return to Ulster for questioning. If he is willing he can be returned almost immediately; if not, an extradition warrant will have to be sought.