Man arrested over double murder in Belfast

33-year-old held after bodies of man and woman found in a house yesterday

Detectives investigating a double murder in Belfast have arrested a man.

The 33-year-old was detained shortly after police revealed the deceased - a middle-aged man and woman - had been victims of a domestic incident.

Their bodies were discovered in a flat in the Ravenhill area in the south east of the city on Friday afternoon.

Detective Chief Inspector Una Jennings said she believed the perpetrator may have been in a relationship with one of the victims.

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“We are treating this at the moment as a suspected domestic homicide,” she said.

The chief investigating officer with the PSNI added: “I would describe it as a domestic incident. We believe that the perpetrator of this crime may well have been in a relationship with one or other of the victims.”

Police did not want the identities of the victims to become public at this stage as not all of their next of kin had been informed.

Officers found their bodies in the living room of the flat in the Ravenhill Court area yesterday afternoon. They had been alerted by a member of the public who noticed the front door of the property had been badly damaged.

Ms Jennings said the exact causes of death would not be confirmed until post mortem examinations were carried out in the coming days.

Asked if the perpetrator posed a danger to the wider public, Ms Jennings said: “We don’t consider they pose a risk to the public at this time.”

Detectives appealed for anyone who noticed anything suspicious in the Ravenhill Court area between 3pm on Wednesday and 3pm yesterday to contact them.

PA