Hijackers beat Irishman to death

The 32-year-old Irishman murdered in Mozambique was beaten to death by carjackers less than 1km from his home.

The gang attacked William Deasy on Friday night as he was returning to his accommodation after a working in a nearby titanium mine.

Mr Deasy, a quantity surveyor from Dublin Pike, Cork, left the mine in a 4x4 owned by his employers, Clonmel-based Kentz Engineers & Contractors, and was travelling the short distance to his home when his attackers struck.

When he failed to return to the house at Moma, on Mozambique’s coast, colleagues mounted a search, but failed to find his body, and alerted local police officers.

Police located his 4x4 in a remote desert area nearly 200km away.

His body was then discovered close to his home.

An autopsy revealed he died as a result of a serious assault, but not from gunshot wounds as had been previously reported.

Mr Deasy’s family issued a statement last night confirming they had been made aware of the autopsy results.

Police are understood to be working on the theory that Mr Deasy was attacked by more than one person and that the motive was carjacking/robbery.

It has not been revealed if any of Mr Deasy’s personal belongings are missing.

His family revealed that the CIT graduate, who had worked in Mozambique for Kentz since 2011, was planning to further his education King’s College, London.

Their statement said: “William was bright, intelligent, ambitious, and dedicated himself to his new job with great pride and energy.”

The family, who are being comfor-ted by relatives and close friends, added: “William will be very deeply missed by his distraught and proud parents, Pat and Abina, by his sisters Emma and Susan and by his brothers David and Paul.”

They said they were grateful for the support they were receiving from Kentz, their extended family, friends and neighbours, as well as William’s many close friends and associates, and for their expressions of sympathy.

Finally, the family asked for privacy at this difficult time and requested that be respected, especially at the time of his funeral.

Irish ambassador Ruairí de Burca, who is based several thousand kilometres away in Mozambique’s capital Maputo, is liaising with authorities, the Deasy family, and Kentz in an effort to have William’s body returned home for burial as soon as possible.

The logistics are difficult, as Mozambique, which is nearly 10 times the size of Ireland, is one of the most impoverished countries in the world. The average life expectancy of its 23.5m population is just 50.