Two questioned in connection with NI murder

Two men were tonight being questioned by police about the murder of the nephew of a Sinn Fein member of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Kieran Kelly, 35, was battered to death and his girlfriend injured in an attack inside his flat on north Belfast’s Antrim Road to which he only moved last week.

His uncle, Mid Ulster MLA John Kelly, said it appeared he had been murdered after his attackers suspected he had complained about the noise coming from a party in an upstairs flat.

“It seems someone complained about the noise and the people at the party thought it was Kieran as he had only just moved into the flat downstairs,” claimed the MLA.

“An attacker hit him over the head with a hammer before they gave him a savage beating as he lay on the floor, even managing to break his leg.

“The violence of his death, and this makes it even sadder, was in contrast to the very gentle nature of Kieran. He was a very gentle and a very sensitive young man,” Mr Kelly added.

His nephew was taken to hospital suffering from serious head injuries after the attack at 9am on Sunday morning , but died shortly afterwards.

His girlfriend was placed on a ventilator in hospital for a time before her condition improved.

Meanwhile police in Bangor, Co Down were tonight questioning two people about the murder of another man in what appeared to be an arson attack.

Michael O’Hare, 36, died after a blaze at his flat in Dufferin Avenue which police said they were treating as suspicious.

Firefighters dragged the victim from the fire but he died at the scene.

It was the second murder in the same street in a matter of weeks. In January a 60-year-old man was stabbed to death a few doors away.