Teenager charged with taxi driver's murder

An 18-year-old man was tonight charged with the murder of a father of four who was stabbed to death in the North.

Stiofan Loughran, 41, is believed to have either intervened in a street row or confronted someone who allegedly assaulted one of his two sons.

He was stabbed twice – in the back and groin – with a knife and a screwdriver yards from his home in Newry, Co Down, on Thursday.

He was taken to Daisy Hill Hospital in Newry after the attack in Third Avenue on the Derrybeg Estate but died a short time later.

He worked as a part-time taxi driver and freelance photographer and was a musician who played traditional music.

The death of a man who friends described as a “gentle giant” sent shockwaves through the border city.

The 18-year-old accused, also charged with assault, is due to appear at a special sitting of Newry Magistrates’ Court tomorrow, said police.