Hit-and-run victim is buried

The 21-year-old man who was killed by so-called joyriders at the weekend has been buried.

Hundreds of people followed the funeral cortege for Kieran Conlon as it left his Lenadoon home en route to the nearby St Oliver Plunket Church.

During the funeral Mass, parish priest Father Patrick Devlin told the congregation that the Kieran's family would have been spared their grief, "if all people believed in God's word".

Kieran Conlon, of Dungloe Crescent, was hit by a stolen car at around 3.30pm on Sunday morning after he left a nightclub on the Stewartstown Road. Mr Conlon was pronounced dead at the Royal Victoria Hospital a short time later.

The two teenagers charged in connection with his death appeared at Lisburn Magistrates Court on Monday.

Stephen Campbell (19), from Broompark in Belfast, was charged with causing the death of Kieran Conlon by dangerous driving. He was also accused with taking a car without consent and destroying it by arson. The second youth, a 16 year old who cannot be named for legal reasons, was also charged with arson and allowing himself to be carried in the car. Both were remanded in custody until next month.

The protest group Families Bereaved Through Car Crime made a protest in the area of the killing on Sunday night.

The group, who are calling for tougher sentences for car thieves and so-called joyriders, were joined for the protest by local MP for the area Gerry Adams.

(GMcG)