Charges will be dropped against two Romanian teenagers accused of attempting to rape a schoolgirl in County Antrim.
The boys, aged 14 and 15, have been held in custody since the alleged attack on June 7, which led to racially motivated rioting in Ballymena during the summer.
On Friday the Public Prosecution Service was given permission to drop criminal proceedings at Belfast Youth Court due to “significant evidentiary developments”.
It was claimed at a previous court hearing that the girl was dragged from an alley to a garage, but ran away when the men who attacked her became upset.
The teenagers will now be released from the juvenile detention center where they have been kept for more than five months.
Another youth, who is suspected of being involved in the alleged attack, is believed to have fled to Romania the following day.
Due to old age, none of the accused could be identified.
The alleged attack was followed by large-scale racially motivated attacks in the city before spreading to other parts of Northern Ireland.
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