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A man was arrested today over the kidnapping for ransom of a mother and her young son in Co Down three months ago.

Emma Crane and her four-year-old son were kidnapped from their home in Co Down in May and taken to a vacant house in the Ravenhill area of south Belfast where they were held for 12 hours.

Her partner, who works for a financial institution, was ordered by the kidnappers to collect a sum of cash — understood to have been a £200,000 ransom - and to leave it at a specified address in Belfast to secure their freedom.

The imprisoned mother and son managed to free themselves and raise the alarm.

The man was detained during a search operation in the Dunwellan area of Newcastle, Co Down today.