Two arrested over man's death after assault

TWO MEN aged 31 and 20 were arrested in Co Derry yesterday after a man was killed following an assault outside a nightclub in Portstewart early yesterday morning.

The victim, whose name was not released by the PSNI, was attacked outside the Havana nightclub on the Promenade in Portstewart just before 2am.

SDLP Assembly member for the area John Dallat said anyone with information about the fatal assault should bring it to the police.

“I was in Portstewart a couple of hours before this death and no one could have predicted that someone would lose their life later in the evening,” he said. “It is hard to take that a young man would later be dead and a family plunged into mourning,” added Mr Dallat.

Local Sinn Féin councillor Billy Leonard said his first thoughts were with the man’s family circle. “Their son goes out to enjoy himself and he doesn’t return home. It is totally sickening to think of,” he said.

“However, I have to say that this was an incident waiting to happen. “The culture of aggression is ever-present and unfortunately it has now gone to the sickening level of this person’s death. This culture must be challenged by all who have responsibility for any aspect of this context,” he said.