Woman charged with murder over death of man, 55, in house fire
Patrick 'Paddy' Douglas, aged 55, died following a house fire in the Main Street area of Ballymoney on Tuesday.
Advertisement
On Friday, police said they had charged a 34-year-old woman with murder.
She is expected to appear before Ballymena Magistrates' Court on Saturday.
As is normal procedure, all charges are reviewed by the Public Prosecution Service.
Mr Douglas was conveyed to hospital after the fire but died from his injuries.
Advertisement
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
29 minutes ago
- BBC News
Traffickers who ran migrant cannabis farms jailed in Birmingham
Members of an organised crime gang which forced trafficked migrants to work in cannabis farms across the country have been ringleader of the gang, Mai Van Nguyen, 35, from Birmingham, led a criminal network of Vietnamese nationals to exploit the migrants after they were trafficked into the country on lorries or boats, the National Crime Agency (NCA) said. Taxi drivers were then used to move the migrants to farms and properties around the country. Many were forced to live in degrading conditions in order to pay off their debt and some were subjected to violence, Kevin Broadhead, from the NCA, said. Nguyen worked with fellow Vietnamese nationals Doung Dinh, 38, from Birmingham, and Nghia Dinh Tran, 30, from Lewisham, London, to exploit migrants by putting them to to the NCA, a trial at Birmingham Crown Court heard how taxi drivers Shamraiz Akhtar and Tasawar Hussain, 53 and 54 respectively and from Birmingham, would move migrants between various properties for the gang and were paid hundreds of pounds each would also carry equipment and cannabis, said the NCA. A sixth member of the gang, Amjad Nawaz, 44, from Birmingham, arranged the properties which were used for buying and selling drugs. The trial heard from one trafficking victim who said he was forced to work after being exploited by the gang. In June 2021, he was arrested after officers from Cleveland Police raided a farm at a house in the property, officers found a note pinned to a bedroom door saying "take what you want, please don't hit me, I do not know English" and a handwritten diary extract from a migrant in which they asked: "Why did I get beaten up and forced to work?"Farms linked to the network were found in Tipton, Coventry and Edgbaston in the West Midlands, Derby, Hartlepool, East Ham in London and Gatley in Cheshire. Nguyen and Tran both pleaded guilty to conspiring to produce cannabis but the others denied the charge. All six denied charges of trafficking for exploitation but on 24 February, following a seven-week trial at Birmingham Crown Court, all six were found guilty of all charges. The sentences handed down to the six men were:• Mai Van Nguyen, 35, of Beetham Tower, Birmingham – 15 years• Doung Dinh, 38, of St John's Walk, Birmingham – 14 years• Nghia Dinh Tran, 30, of Casella Road, Lewisham, London – 11 years 6 months• Amjad Nawaz, 44, of Blake Lane, Birmingham - 12 years• Tasawar Hussain, 54, of Millward Street, Birmingham - 10 years• Shamraiz Akhtar, 53, of Nechells Park Road, Birmingham - 10 years 6 months Second gang also sentenced The NCA said, in a separate hearing at the same court, two members of another organised crime group were also sentenced on agency said Roman Le, 37, from Birmingham, headed a gang who operated at least eight farms in residential and commercial properties as well as a storage facility which housed both equipment and harvested NCA said he found properties by posing as a developer and then buying or renting said Le worked with co-defendants Yihao Feng, 29, from Manchester, and David Qayumi, 36, from Birmingham, to find and run the included a disused nightclub in Coventry, a former pub in Birmingham and an old hotel in the farms were capable of making millions of pounds worth of cannabis, the agency was sentenced to three years and two months in prison, Qayumi got three years and four months and Le will be sentenced on 30 July, the NCA said. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
29 minutes ago
- BBC News
Reading church cordoned off after teenager sexually assaulted
A teenager was the victim of a serious sexual assault in a town centre churchyard, police have Minster churchyard, in St Mary's Butts, was cordoned off after the attack in the early hours of Saturday Valley Police said the victim was a woman in her late teens and that no arrests had been made.A spokesperson said there would be an increased police presence while enquiries continued and appealed for anyone with information to get in touch. You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
Reuters
38 minutes ago
- Reuters
UK police arrest over 20 supporters of now banned Palestine Action group
LONDON, July 5 (Reuters) - British police arrested over 20 people on suspicion of terrorism offences after they showed support for the newly banned Palestine Action group in London, officials said on Saturday, hours after the proscription came into effect. The government moved to ban Palestine Action under anti-terrorism laws last month after its activists broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged two planes in protest against what the group said was Britain's support for Israel. Late on Friday, the campaign lost an urgent appeal against the parliamentary decision to proscribe it as a terrorist organisation, with the ban coming into force from midnight. Under UK laws, offences include inviting support, expressing approval, or displaying symbols of a banned group and are punishable by up to 14 years in prison and/or a fine. Britain has proscribed 81 groups under anti-terrorism laws, including Hamas, al-Qaeda and ISIS. On Saturday, supporters gathered in Parliament Square in Westminster, some holding placards that said "I OPPOSE GENOCIDE. I SUPPORT PALESTINE ACTION." Sky News footage showed some being led away in handcuffs from a statue of Indian independence hero Mahatma Gandhi in the square, as they shouted their support. United Nations experts have accused Israel of carrying out "genocidal acts" against Palestinians in the conflict in Gaza, which began after Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023. Israel has repeatedly dismissed such accusations. Palestine Action has targeted Israel-linked companies in Britain in its protests, with interior minister Yvette Cooper saying that violence and criminal damage have no place in legitimate protest and that the group's activities justify proscription. Critics of the decision, including some United Nations experts and civil liberties groups, have argued that damaging property does not amount to terrorism. At another protest on Saturday, the police arrested five pro-Palestine protesters from the Youth Demand group who threw red paint over a truck involved in London's Pride parade and glued themselves to the vehicle. The parade has since resumed.
