A 17-year-old boy appeared in court today charged with the dissident republican murder of Constable Stephen Carroll.

Lisburn Youth Court was told today that the teenager — who cannot be named because of legal reasons — refused to speak during police interviews.

The 48-year-old officer from Banbridge was shot in the head in Craigavon, Co Armagh earlier this month as he responded to an emergency call.

Under heavy security at Lisburn Courthouse this morning, the boy was formally charged with the policeman’s murder on March 9.

The teenager, who did not speak during his court appearance, was also charged with having a firearm with intent to endanger life and membership of a proscribed organisation, the Continuity IRA. He was also charged with collecting information likely to be of use to terrorists.

Detective Inspector John Caldwell told Magistrate Rosie Watters that he could connect the youth to the charge.

Defence solicitor Paddy Moriarty asked the officer how long his client had been held for and how many times he had been interviewed during that period.

Det Insp Caldwell told the court the boy had been held in custody for 13 days and said he believed the number of times he had been questioned was “in the late teens”.

Mr Moriarty also asked him if his client had made any admission during this time.

Det Insp Caldwell told the court: “He refused to speak throughout the interviews.”

The solicitor said his client would be denying all the charges, but made no application for bail. The teenager was remanded in custody and is due to appear via videolink in Craigavon on April 3.

Earlier on Monday, two men aged 27 and 31, who were arrested in connection with the murder, were released without charge. Four other people are still being questioned about Constable Carroll's murder on March 9.