Three Held In Murder Probe

Three people are still being questioned about the murder of a man in west Belfast.

The 30-year-old victim - named as John Monagan - was attacked with machetes and hatchets in his bed by a gang who burst into his house at Fallswater Street. The man's wife - Julia Monagan - gave birth just hours after the incident.

The attack happened at about 2.00am on Thursday. The couple's two children were in the house at the time.

A murder inquiry is under way and the area remains cordoned off. Two people have been arrested. According to relatives, other members of his family have been previously attacked.

Police later arrested two men, aged 32 and 37, at separate addresses in Londonderry. A woman has also been arrested in the County.

His brother spoke of the family's shock.

"At two or three o'clock this morning they booted (down) his door and murdered him in his bed for nothing," he said.

"His wife was injured to the back of her head, a cut to the back. They have only been there about two or three months. It's a terrible loss."

Detectives are appealing for anyone who observed what is believed to have been a large, dark car leaving the area at the time to contact them.

(GC)