Man beaten to death after wedding row

A father-of-two beaten to death in front of his family may have been involved in an argument hours earlier at a family wedding, a priest said today.

Window cleaner Jim McFadden, 42, was attacked with sticks and bats in front of his children in Moyola Drive, Shantallow, Derry, early on Saturday.

Father Eamon Graham said there had been a dispute at a family wedding.

Fr Graham said: “There was some disagreement at the reception and there were people waiting for him when they came.”

He added that there had been no long-running feud in the family and said they were devastated by the loss.

Mr McFadden died later in hospital. His 15-year-old daughter suffered facial injuries and his 16-year-old boy suffered a broken arm.

Police said two men and a woman are being held in connection with the attack.

A spokeswoman said: “Detectives are investigating a number of lines of inquiry.”

His other children, aged between 10 and 16, witnessed the assault.

Fr Graham added: “He was a good family man, a quiet man, his wife and children were his life.

“He would have done a lot of odd-jobs for people and was well respected.”

The funeral will be held later this week.

Nationalist SDLP councillor Shaun Gallagher said it was a heinous crime and urged people to contact police.

“At the end of the day Jim McFadden didn’t deserve the death he received in front of his children,” he said.

“This was a particularly nasty crime after a wedding, and the family are shattered.

“Jim was the quietest man who walked on this earth. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time but he had a particularly brutal death and it was not called for.”