22/04/2010

Policeman Link To Ballyclare Murder

The PSNI has refused to comment on a report that the man arrested by detectives investigating the murder of a woman found strangled in Ballyclare, Co Antrim, may be a retired police officer.

The tragic death of Pauline Haveron - whose body was found in her home at Huntingdale Green on Sunday - led to the 55-year-old man from the Greenisland area being arrested.

While the PSNI at first denied that anyone had been detained - until it was confirmed around teatime on Tuesday - local reports were already indicating as early as 11am that morning that a man was being questioned in connection with the shock killing.

The PSNI only later said that the man had been detained in the Antrim area on Tuesday afternoon.

The man being questioned is said to be an ex-police officer who served in the formerly high profile Castlereagh barracks, in east Belfast.

The murder victim, Mrs Haveron, 53, was a well-known and well-liked member of the community in Ballyclare having moved there from the Greenisland area on separation from her husband.

Local DUP politician, Alderman Nigel Hamilton, (pictured) who lives in Ballyclare, said it was a very sad affair.

"This is very tragic," the former Chairman of Newtownabbey District Policing Partnership commented, noting that it was a "very serious and shocking incident".

The details of the killing were only released on Tuesday after a post mortem examination and consultations with the victim's family.

Detectives from the PSNI's Serious Crime Branch launched the enquiry and are keen to speak to anyone who was in the Doagh Road and Huntingdale areas between 10pm on Saturday and 1am on Sunday.

It is understood the victim - a mother-of-four - was a former nurse and had been living in the Huntingdale area of the Co Antrim town for the last five years.

She leaves a grown-up family of four, one of whom, her 18-year-old son, also lives in the Ballyclare house.

(BMcC/GK)

Related Northern Ireland News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

23 May 2014
Man Charged With Attempted Murder Following Crossbow Attack
A man has been charged with attempted murder following a crossbow attack in south Belfast on Wednesday evening. A 29-year-old man was shot with a crossbow while he was in a parked car in the Belgravia Avenue area. His injuries are not believed to be life threatening. A woman was also in the car at the time of the attack but was not injured.
09 August 2017
Man Released On Bail Over Lurgan Murder
A man arrested in connection with a murder in Lurgan on Sunday, 06 August, has been released on bail pending further enquiries. The body of a man, aged 45, was discovered at a flat on Victoria Street. Police are appealing for anyone with information to contact them.
17 January 2014
74-Year-Old Shot In Chest
A pensioner has been taken to hospital after being shot in the chest by a masked man in Ballycastle, County Antrim. The 74-year-old man was working in a shed at a property in the Islandboy Road area at about 20:45 on Thursday evening when the attacker approached and shot him.
09 May 2007
Mother of IRA murder victim dies
The mother of an IRA murder victim whose body was never found, suffered a major stroke last week and died in Craigavon Area Hospital. 82-year-old Vera McVeigh campaigned for the return of her son's body after the IRA secretly buried his body in 1975.
04 November 2014
Arrest Over Attempted Murder
Police have arrested a 25-year-old man in on suspicion of attempted murder following an incident on the Limestone Road in north Belfast on Friday night. A 25-year-old man was taken to hospital for treatment for injuries sustained during the attack, in which a number of people are believed to have been involved.