A murder hunt has been launched today after the killing of a pensioner during a violent break-in at a house in Co Antrim.
Mr Joshua McClenaghan (65) died when he was tied up and beaten by intruders while he was visiting an elderly friend at his farmhouse outside Antrim town last night.
Mr McClenaghan was leaving the his friend’s home when he was confronted by a group of attackers who apparently forced him back into the house and tied up both men, said police.
The older man eventually managed to free himself and raise the alarm. He was taken to hospital for treatment.
Police discovered Mr McClenaghan's body when they arrived at the isolated house on the Kilgavanagh Road. He lived a short distance away at Crosskennan Road, Antrim.
The dead man's car was stolen by the gang as they made their getaway and found abandoned some distance away. The fleeing gang are thought by police to have then stolen a blue Honda Concerto which in turn was abandoned at Duncairn Gardens in north Belfast.
A Police spokesman said they did not know the motive for the forced entry to the farmhouse, but the result was murder. A post-mortem is to be carried out on the victim.
Police said they urgently wanted to contact a ginger-haired woman with a southern Irish accent who yesterday called at the house in a yellow van and who was trying to sell towels, pillowcases and shoes.
PA