Two men who spent 30 years in prison in the US for rape and murder have been released, after DNA evidence proved their innocence.

A North Carolina judge has ordered that Henry McCollum, 50, and his half-brother Leon Brown, 46, be immediately released.

The half brothers - who are mentally disabled - were convicted in the early 1980s when they were just 15- and 19-years-old.

Lawyers campaigned for the release of the two men following the discovery of DNA from a cigarette butt at the scene which pointed to another man.

That man has been serving a life sentence for a rape and slaying which took place less than a month after Sabrina's death.

The brothers both confessed to the crime but said they were coerced after hours of questioning.

Their step-mother Priscilla McCollum says her thoughts are with the family of 11-year-old Sabrina Buie who was the victim in the case.