Brothers face questioning after man’s fire death

FOUR brothers recovering from serious burns in hospital are to be questioned about the murder of a man who was set alight with his girlfriend by self-styled vigilantes.

Thomas O’Hare, 33, died in a Belfast hospital, police said yesterday. His partner Lisa McClatchey, 21, remains critically ill.

Police have been unable to interview the four men who were admitted to hospital in the Republic just after the horrific attack, when the couple’s home was also set on fire near Markethill, Co Armagh, on Monday night.

Two men wanted in connection with the blaze are on the run.

None of the four brothers, aged between 24 and 34, who are being treated in St James’s Hospital, Dublin, with injuries which range from 35% to 55% burns, is in a fit enough state to be questioned. They remain seriously ill, but will be questioned later.

Police are attempting to establish if there is any link between their injuries and the house fire.

A sectarian and racial motive for Mr O’Hare’s murder has been ruled out. It’s understood he was the initial target and new details on the police inquiry are expected later today.

A spokesman for the Police Service of Northern Ireland said: “The investigation on this side of the border is advancing, and there may be other developments.”

Mr O’Hare had been separated from his wife, a mother of two, for a number of years. Unconfirmed reports claim he had been threatened before Monday night’s attack at his home at Foley Road.