The funeral was today taking place of the 15-year-old schoolboy stabbed to death in the most brutal of Belfast's recent wave of street crime.
Thomas Devlin will be buried in the Co Antrim village of Armoy, Co Antrim, following requiem mass in Belfast. The talented musician was stabbed in the back last Wednesday while walking home in north Belfast with two friends after a visit to a local shop to buy sweets.
The motiveless, random murder sent shockwaves through the affluent Somerton Road area where he lived and which had largely escaped the violence of neighbouring areas.
Thomas was stabbed five times in the back and one of his friends was injured by a single stab wound when they were approached by two males, believed to be in their late teens or early 20s, who had a dog with them.
Two men and a juvenile were arrested following the murder but released without charge. The police chief leading the murder hunt, Detective Superintendent Colin Sturgeon, has appealed for anyone with information to come forward to help him trap the killers.
He has especially urged that if anyone has the slightest suspicion a friend or relative was responsible, that they shop the culprit to police. The grammar school pupil attended Belfast Royal Academy and many school pals are expected to attend the funeral.