Man charged over alleged Portadown Murder

Police have charged a 53-year-old man with murder after another man's body was found at a residential property in Portadown.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland found the body of Stephen Barriskill, 63, early on Wednesday afternoon at the home in the Whiteside Hill area of the town, some 30 miles south-west of Belfast.

The 53-year-old was arrested later that day after the force issued an appeal for help.He is expected to appear before Craigavon Magistrates' Court on Friday.

SDLP Upper Bann MLA Dolores Kelly said it was the latest in a line of violent deaths across Northern Ireland, and the second in Portadown in recent weeks. "There can be no place for violence in our society and incidents like this deprive families of loved ones and leave lives irreparably damaged," she said.

"My thoughts go out to the family and friends of the man who was found dead today and to the community in Whitesides Hill who will be shocked that this has happened within their community.

"I would urge anyone who knows anything about this to come forward and help police with their investigation as soon as possible.

"I would also ask that police be given space to carry out a full investigation and identify exactly what took place."

Detective Chief Inspector Neil McGuinness said: "Just after 12.07pm on Wednesday afternoon, police responding to the report of an incident, located the body of Mr Barriskill at a residential property in the Whitesides Hill area of Portadown.

"While our investigation is ongoing, I would again appeal to anyone who was in the Whitesides Hill area from 8pm on Tuesday 26 Oct, and who witnessed anything suspicious to contact detectives on 101 quoting reference 773 of 27/10/21."