Two arrested in murder investigation of three-year-old

Two people have been arrested as part of a police murder investigation into the death of a three-year-old boy in Northern Ireland.

Brendan Owens, from Lisburn near Belfast, was found at a house in the city on July 4.

A woman aged 27 and a man aged 51 are being questioned.

A Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) spokeswoman said: “Detectives are now treating this as a murder investigation.”

The boy was discovered at Trinity Terrace, close to the centre of the city. A post-mortem has been carried out.

Neighbours said residents of the newly refurbished terrace house, located behind a Domino’s pizza takeaway and near Holy Trinity Nursery School, had moved into the busy sidestreet just a few months before the death.

Democratic Unionist Party MLA Paul Givan said: “It’s very tragic that we had the death of this infant and my heart goes out to the family that are affected by this.

“For anyone to lose a child, particularly in these circumstances, is devastating.”