Woman questioned over Ballymena murder bailed

A woman arrested and questioned over the murder of a 40-year-old man in Ballymena has been released on bail pending further investigation and the outcome of a post-mortem.

By The Newsroom

Published 23rd Nov 2018, 19:43 BST

Updated 8th Jan 2019, 16:53 BST

The victim, named locally as Robin McMaster, was found dead in a house in Devenagh Court on Thursday afternoon.

A 53-year-old woman who had been arrested in connection with the murder was released on police bail on Friday.

She was subsequently rearrested and charged with fraud by false representation, and is due to appear at Ballymena Magistrates’ Court on Saturday.

Detective Chief Inspector Peter McKenna said a post-mortem examination would be carried out in due course to determine the exact cause of the Mr McMaster’s death, but at this stage police are “treating this as murder”.

He extended his sympathies to the victim’s family and appealed for information.

One of the dead man’s neighbours, Martin McAvoy, told UTV Mr McMaster was a “friendly young man,” who would “do you a good turn if he could”.

SDLP councillor Declan O’Loan said: “This is a very quiet community just at the edge of Ballymena town centre ... and generally, everybody is shocked and saddened at this tragic death.”