Four questioned about killing in Newry

DETECTIVES were last night still questioning three men and a woman about the killing of a man in Newry, Co Down, early yesterday.

Mr Colum Eugene Hughes (36), an unemployed man from Ardcarne Park in the Derrybeg area of Newry, was found beaten to death in an alley beside a pub on Monagnan Street shortly before 1 a.m. The RUC does not suspect any sectarian or paramilitary involvement.

Mr Hughes and a woman friend had gone to a bar on Monaghan Street at 6.30 p.m. on Wednesday and spent most of the evening there. During the evening, he is understood to have had a "difference of opinion" with another man.

Last night it was still unclear when Mr Hughes left the pub or what happened afterwards but the emergency services received an anonymous phone call shortly before 1 a.m. and Mr Hughes's body was discovered in the lane.

A post-mortem examination was carried out yesterday afternoon. It showed that Mr Hughes had been hit on the back of the head but no weapon was found at the scene.

The RUC arrested four people, three men and a woman, yesterday afternoon. They were still being questioned last night. It is understood they had been in the pub when Mr Hughes was there.

The victim had been living with a brother after separating recently from his partner, with whom he had two teenage children. He would have been 37 next week.

Mr Hughes's sister, Ms Pauline McCamley, described him as a quiet, popular man who would never have harmed anyone.