Hit-and-run upgraded to murder inquiry

Inquiries into a hit-and-run death along the border have been upgraded to a murder investigation.

Gardaí, who arrested a man aged 40 who lives in south Co Donegal, said they questioned him as a murder suspect.

He was held until late Monday night and then released without charge. A file is being sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

The man was quizzed about the death of father-of-six Pat John McCafferty, 49, in the early hours of Sunday.

Mr McCafferty, a digger-driver, was knocked down by a car at Tullychurry Rd, Leggs, Belleek, Co Fermanagh, close to his home in the North.

He is to be buried near the family home at Belault, Pettigo, Co Donegal, when his body is released by the Northern Ireland Coroner.

Meanwhile, two police investigations are proceeding into his death.

The PSNI said yesterday that enquiries are continuing and they would appeal to anyone who was in the Tullychurch Road area before or after the time of the incident and saw a blue Ford Focus car to contact them.

Gardaí who quizzed the main suspect said they have sent a file to the DPP.

It is expected that any trial will be held in the North, with the suspect transferred to the PSNI, if necessary, under a European arrest warrant. Gardaí will give evidence in a Northern trial.

The tragedy is the second to strike the family in recent years. The victim was the uncle of local radio reporter Donna Ferguson, 24, of Belleek, who died on the same road in a car accident in December, 2006.