Preacher on abduction charges

A Mormon preacher was charged yesterday with abducting two young boys in Belfast last week. In Belfast Magistrates Court was Mr Arthur James Ferguson (25), a non salaried priest in a Mormon church in east Belfast. Mr Ferguson, of Burren Way, Cregagh, was arrested at 1.30 a.m. last Thursday after police stopped him and the boys, aged 10 and 11, as they walked along Ravenhill Park. The boys had absconded the previous evening from a children's home in north Belfast. Defence solicitor Mr Noel Phoenix said the accused was pleading not guilty. Mr Ferguson was remanded until March 26th on £500 bail.