Ryan Kirkpatrick murder suspects face January extradition

Kane Hull, 28, and Liam Porter, 32, were identified several weeks ago in a hearing at the city's High Court after they were detained on European arrest warrants following their arrest on suspicion of murder.

Mr Kirkpatrick, 24, died on September 18 after being stabbed in Carlyle's Court in Carlisle city centre.

Despite desperate efforts to save him, he was confirmed dead at the scene. Detectives believe the killing was "targeted".

It has now emerged that both Hull and Porter are likely to face a crunch extradition hearing towards the end of January, though the precise date has not been made public.

The development came as police confirmed that they are continuing to hunt for witnesses to the killing.

The tragedy triggered a huge investigation as scores of people - shocked by such violence in a busy part of the city centre - laid floral tributes at the scene in Carlyle's Court.

By mid-October, police had made 13 arrests in connection with the tragedy.

Several people were arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender.

Detective Chief Superintendent Dean Holden

The county's most senior detective, Det Chief Supt Dean Holden, said "strong evidence" about the killing has now been gathered.

Asked if he was confident the two suspects would be successfully extradited, the officer said: "Yes. Definitely."

Of the murder investigation generally, he said: "We're continuing to try to trace witnesses as I'm not convinced we've spoken to everybody who was there that night.

"But we have got a number of people who are supporting the investigation.

"I'm as satisfied as I can be that we have got some strong evidence. We still have a full family liaison officer deployment with the victim's family.

"Even though Carlisle is a busy city, it's not Liverpool and it's not Manchester, where they experience quite a lot of violent crime in the city centre, which we don't normally have.

"Because of that, this has had a disproportionate impact. We've put a lot more resources into addressing potential issues around violence and the night-time economy. But this crime didn't emanate out of an argument in a pub.

"It was targeted."

After the latest court hearing in Dublin, both Hull and Porter were remanded in custody. At the time of the hearing, senior Cumbrian police officers described the two arrests in Ireland as "significant".

In the weeks after the murder, police urged motorists who may have relevant dashcam footage to get in touch.

Officers were keen to see footage from specific areas of Carlisle between 8pm and 9pm on September 18. They were particularly interested in the following streets: Carlyle’s Court, Fisher Street, Market Street, West Tower Street, Castle Way, Wigton Road, Newtown Road and Burgh Road.

After Mr Kirkpatrick's death, his family issued a heartfelt statement, saying: “We want to pay a tribute to our beautiful kind and caring Ryan, who will always be the light of our family. Funny, strong, loving and charming, your cheeky smile will be imprinted in our hearts forever."

Call 101 if you can help the investigation.