A grieving mother appealed directly to a Loyalist community in north Belfast today to help identify the killers who brutally stabbed her teenage son to death.
On the second anniversary of the murder of 15-year-old Thomas Devlin as he walked home after buying sweets from a local shop, his mother Penny Holloway urged those shielding the killers to do the decent thing and inform the police.
She spoke out as police launched a new poster campaign specifically directed at the Mount Vernon area depicting Thomas's parents holding a picture of their son and declaring: "If we knew who had murdered your child we'd call."
At the same time a senior police officer revealed new "potentially significant" forensic examinations were being carried out on a number of items.
In the past two years 12 people have been arrested and questioned, 77 searches mounted and more than 1000 statements taken.
But no one has been charged.
Speaking at a press conference in north Belfast Ms Holloway said the death of her son had left an enormous void in her family's lives.
"Part of us died that night. The sadness we have felt since he was murdered will not go. Sometimes I cannot even bear to look at a photo of him."
Two men are believed to have carried out the murder, one was leading a dog. They walked up behind Thomas and two friends, stabbing him to death and injuring one of the others.
Penny Holloway said: "These men returned to their homes in Mount Vernon and were met by people who assisted in the cleaning and disposal of their clothes. Those closest to the killers are giving them alibis in the full knowledge of the savage and unprovoked murder that these men carried out on a 15-year-old schoolboy - there are families protecting them."
"There are people in the Shore Road who have got information which would lead to their prosecution and conviction of Thomas's murder. We have been waiting for two years for the people of their community to stand up against these vicious child-killers who continue to live amongst them."
Detective Chief Inspector Nick McCaw insisted the murder hunt was very much live. "The police are not going to give up on this. The men who murdered Thomas and the people who are protecting them should know that."
He said he had heard a lot of stories about who was responsible but said: "What we need is information which we can turn into evidence. I am asking those who have that information to examine their consciences, come forward and bring these child-killers to justice."
PA