Four quizzed over stab death

Four people were tonight being questioned about the brutal murder of a 51-year-old man who was found stabbed to death.

The man, named locally as Hugh McKibben, died when a violent disturbance broke out at the home of a young family in Inisharon Court in Newtownards, Co Down.

It is believed the victim, who lived a few miles away at Carrowdore, was stabbed in the hallway of the house.

Meanwhile, police ruled out a crime following the death of a 34-year-old man whose body was found suffering from stab wounds at a house in north Belfast.

Police said following a post mortem examination they were not looking for anyone in connection with the death in the Old Park Road.

Meanwhile three people were being treated in hospital for stab wounds following disturbances at a social club in Newtownabbey on the Co Antrim outskirts of north Belfast.

Police said they had not ruled out a sectarian motive for the trouble at the club in Monkstown Avenue.

One of the three men, a 24-year-old, was in a critical condition, said a spokesman.

A fourth man injured in the clash was being treated for a fractured skull.

An ambulance crew called to the scene to tend the injured were themselves threatened at knife point, said the Ambulance Service.

A spokesman said a crowd entered the rear of the ambulance and threatened both the crew and an injured man with a knife.