Two notorious paedophiles who were hiding out in Donegal recently have been arrested in the North.
Child rapist James White, 48, and his pal Jason Lydiard, 26, roamed Donegal last weekend bringing fear to local communities.
But tonight the two have been caught by the PSNI in Newry after an incident during which they were set upon in the Mullaghbawn area.
It appears the men may have been attacked before being doused in cement.
An angry mob shouted at the men before they were arrested by detectives from the PSNI.
Sightings of the pair in various towns across Donegal last weekend sparked a social media frenzy.
Pictures of the pair’s blue Peugeot car was posted online and shared extensively.
The pair event tried to buy a new car in Ballybofey on Friday evening but were recognised by the car dealer.
On Saturday morning they were chased from a car park close to the Poundland store in Strabane, Co Tyrone and again fled back to Donegal.
On Saturday evening the duo contacted Gardai and were pictured at Trusk on the outskirts of Ballybofey receiving a Garda escort towards Castlederg in Co Tyrone.
One local man who observed the pair being escorted towards the border said the sex offenders are not welcome locally.
The pair were first spotted in Letterkenny on Friday morning and were loitering close to a circus in the town.
Gardai in Letterkenny confirmed they had registered with them.
Gardai have intelligence that the duo — both originally from the North and considered “high-risk sex offenders” — have been approaching children as part of a depraved double act.
Although the pair served time in the North, they are still required to inform gardai of their whereabouts here.
A Garda bulletin was sent to every station in the country to warn officers to be on the lookout for the pair.
And Lydiard — who also uses the name Alexis Guesto and considers himself a Born-Again Christian — is also suspected of using a fake social media profile as part of his plans to identify potential victims.
Investigators believe the pair became friends after Lydiard, originally from Co Down, was freed from custody in the North earlier this year.
He had finished a seven-month sentence for ignoring a court order banning him from online dating sites.
Although he has nine previous convictions for sexual assault, assaults causing harm and threats to kill, White is considered to be the more dangerous.
Smith, who is originally from south Armagh, he was jailed here in 1998 for horrific attacks — two counts of buggery and five charges of sexual assault — on a teenage boy in Co Meath. He was freed in 2003.
He once threatened to kill a social worker with a hammer, has 62 previous convictions in all, including sexual assault, assault causing bodily harm and threats to kill.
After completing his sentence here, he returned to the North in 2006 and was living in different areas across the border.
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