'Gay link' in sports ground murder

Police are investigating a possible homosexual link in the murder of a man found battered to death at sports grounds.

The body of Ian Samuel Flanagan, 30, was found close to an area regularly frequented by gay men in south Belfast.

A police spokesman said today: “We are following a number of lines of inquiry. One involves liaising with members of the gay community.”

The victim suffered severe head injuries.

Detectives are trying to trace two men dressed in sports clothing seen at Barnett’s Park, south Belfast, where Mr Flanagan’s BMW car was parked, and close to where his body was discovered at a bottom of a grass bank beside hockey pitches on Sunday morning.

They also appealed for the driver of a grey and black jeep to come forward.

Mr Flanagan, who came from Keady, South Armagh, lived at Donegall Avenue, Belfast.