CHILD killer Shaun Armstrong's High Court legal battle has been transferred to London - allaying fears that his case could be heard in the North-East.

The Hartlepool community had been outraged that Armstrong could appear in court in the town where he abducted and carried out the horrific murder of three-year-old Rosie Palmer.

But Liverpool County Court's District Judge Bennett has made an order to transfer the case to the Royal Courts of Justice in London.

The hearing was initially set for Liverpool, but the author Bernard O'Mahoney, who is being sued by Armstrong, was keen for it to go ahead in Hartlepool or London.

Of the two, Armstrong's solicitor, Liverpool-based Elkan Abrahamson, supported the case being heard in London.

Councillor Kevin Kelly, a former member of the Rosie Palmer Foundation, said bringing the case to the North-East town would have incensed the community and "opened old wounds".

He said: "I think people will be relieved and saying thank goodness it is not going ahead in the town, but I think they will still be against the fact that it's going ahead at all." Armstrong is suing Mr O'Mahoney for £15,000 over a series of letters the killer sent and the profits of any book which may be written.

The Peterborough author extracted a confession from Armstrong by writing to him and pretending to be a woman, which the killer claims breached his confidentiality. His solicitor has said he wants the letters back and does not want a book written about him. Mr Abrahamson was unavailable for comment yesterday.

Reacting to the transfer, Mr O'Mahoney said: "I'm pleased it's in London because that's where the media and the politicians are and they will be more inclined to do something about him being able to sue.

"I wanted it held in Hartlepool because people there understand exactly what he did and what kind of person he is.

"I am sure he would have liked it heard in some quiet, suburban court- room somewhere and there wouldn't be any sense of outrage."

A hearing date is yet to be set.