Questions over suspect’s age in Turkey killings

The teenage daughter of a woman murdered with her best friend on holiday in Turkey has arrived home in Northern Ireland.

Shannon Graham landed in Belfast on a flight from London Heathrow last night with her father, Raymond McGuinness, and brother, David, as police continue to try to establish the age of the prime suspect.

They appealed for privacy as they walked from Belfast International Airport to a waiting car.

Turkish waiter Recep Cetin, who had been in a relationship with Shannon, was arrested over the killing of Co Down women Marion Elizabeth Graham and Kathy Dinsmore.

He has claimed he is 17, but prosecutors have raised doubts and if older he would be treated as an adult if charged with the double murder.

It could be tomorrow before arrangements are finalised to repatriate the two women’s bodies.

Uncertainty over the exact age of Cetin, known to the family as Alex, could have major implications on a potential punishment and if charged, tried and found guilty, he could face a much stiffer sentence.

The two women, both aged 53 from Newry, were found murdered in woods 75 miles north of the holiday resort of Kusadasi.

Sources have said the killings happened after Ms Graham refused the waiter’s proposal to marry her daughter.

While no formal charges have yet been brought against Cetin, police sources claim he has confessed to the murders.