Two County Down deaths being treated as murder

Police in County Down have today launched two separate murder inquiries, after the discovery of two bodies in the area yesterday evening.

In the first incident, the body of a 59-year-old man was found in the house in which he was lodging, in Central Avenue, Bangor, at around 6.30pm.

The results of a post-mortem examination revealed that the man had died from head injuries.

The man, whose identity has not yet been revealed, was last seen alive at around 10am yesterday morning.

The area behind the house is still being examined by a forensic team.

In a separate incident, police have launched a murder investigation after the body of a 75-year-old woman was discovered at her home in the Summerhill Drive area of Warrenpoint last night.

It is understood that the woman was found in the bathroom of her home by her two sons who had called to the house at around 8pm.

Police have said that she died from head injuries which were caused by an "extremely violent attack."

A post mortem examination is to be carried out to establish the exact cause of death.

The woman was last seen by her daughter-in-law at around 4pm yesterday afternoon.

PSNI Superintendent Alan McCrum said: "This is a terrible tragedy, which has hit at the very heart of the community.

"But we would ask people to remain calm and we wish to assure the community that we are deploying all necessary resources to this investigation."

He added that police were carrying out house-to-house inquiries and said that detectives particularly want to talk to anyone who may have been in the Summer Hill area between 1600 BST and 2000 BST on Thursday.

Forensic officers are continuing to examine the area.

(EF/SP)