Woman's body found at lakes

Her body was discovered by walkers at around 6.30pm close to Tannaghmore Gardens. Police are not treating her death as suspicious.

It's understood the woman is a Portuguese national and it's thought she died of natural causes. Her bicycle was found close to her body, but it's not believed to have been a factor in her death.

The woman's body was discovered by a lady from Craigavon. She told the 'MAIL': "She was lying on her back, her bike was sitting neat and tidy beside her so I knew she hadn't fallen off it.

"As we got closer I could see her chest wasn't moving. When we got up close it was obvious she was dead. Her eyes were open, but there was no response. I phoned 999 at 6.26pm - the rapid response team were there in five or six minutes."

The lady was concerned by the fact other walkers hadn't bothered with the dead woman.

"There were people in front of us, so they had to have walked past her," she said. "I can't comprehend that people would just walk past when it was obvious something wasn't right with this woman."

It's been claimed police took over an hour to respond to the incident, however police say their presence wasn't requested by the ambulance service until close to 7.30pm.

Sinn Fin District Policing Partnership member Mairead O’Dowd said: “I have contacted the Chief Inspector to seek an explanation as to why the PSNI took so long to respond to a call out.

"This death was apparently the result of natural causes, but given the circumstances and the location it should have been treated as a crime scene and closed off from public access as soon as possible, in order to protect the integrity of evidence."

She added: "A delay of over an hour is unacceptable in any circumstances but doubly so when the scene is potential that of a suspicious death and is open to the public.“

A police spokesperson said: "Although the PSNI were aware of the incident we weren't requested by the ambulance to attend until 7.20pm. We arrived at 7.32pm."

Sinn Fein Councillor Mairead O'Dowd also said there was an issue with the accessibility for emergency vehicles to Tannaghmore Gardens. The councillor said the ambulance team were delayed for 15 minutes waiting for a warden to open the gate.

Councillor O’Dowd, who is Vice-Chair of the Councils Leisure Services Committee, said: “I will be raising the issue of emergency access to council facilities with the relevant directors and will be asking for a quick response system to be put into place as a priority.”