77-year-old held in connection with shooting of Seychelles’ Gérard Hoarau in London

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

A 77-year-old man has been arrested in Northern Ireland in connection with the unsolved killing of an exiled Seychelles politician in north London in the 1980s.

Gérard Hoarau, an opposition leader in the Indian Ocean archipelago, was shot a number of times with a Sterling sub-machine gun on the doorstep of his home in Edgware on 29 November 1985.

Police said a man was arrested in Antrim on Thursday morning on suspicion of conspiracy to murder and was taken to a south London police station for questioning. An address in Antrim was being searched.

Nobody has ever been charged with the murder of Hoarau, who was 35. Reports at the time said a hitman many have been involved.

In 1986 three people were convicted of perverting the course of justice for meddling with the investigation.

The trail went cold for decades, prompting a review in 2016 from which fresh lines of inquiry were established.

Police said the man held on Thursday had not previously been arrested as part of the investigation.