Homeless Man Found Dead In Belfast City Centre

Police are investigating the sudden death of a man in Belfast City Centre.

Officers and forensic teams attended the scene at High Street on the morning of Friday 18 January, where his body was found in a doorway.

A PSNI statement said: "Police attended a report of a sudden death of a man at the High Street area of Belfast this morning.

"A post mortem is due to be carried out to establish the cause of death."

The Welcome Organisation, a charity which helps those living on the streets, said they knew the man and expressed shock at the latest death in the city.

Sandra Moore said: "It's a challenging job at the best of times and certainly when you rouse someone, particularly a man in his mid-30s, you do not expect him to have passed on."

The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service was called to the scene at 8.28am after receiving a report that a man was unconscious and not breathing.

An ambulance and two rapid response vehicles were sent.

Alliance MLA Paula Bradshaw offered her condolences and expressed sadness at the death.

"This is a tragedy and my thoughts go out to this man's friends and family," the south Belfast MLA said.

"While many organisations and agencies are doing good work on the issue of homelessness, this fundamentally represents a failure to tackle its root causes. We need to see more investment in support mechanisms, with resources put into mental health, addiction services, family reunification and other practical support.

"However, unfortunately that is all too late for this poor man."

(JG/CM)