Three teens in custody over killing of man in west Belfast

Three teenagers remained in police custody on Saturday night for questioning about the killing of a 20-year-old man in west Belfast.

Christopher Meli died after suffering a sustained assault in the Twinbrook area in the early hours of Saturday.

He was found near a path in grassland between the main Stewartstown Road and the Glasvey residential area and died at the scene.

The three male suspects, two aged 18 and one 16, are also being quizzed about the attempted murder of another young man who was seriously assaulted in the same incident.

He required hospital treatment for his injuries.

Forensic teams

The teenagers were arrested on Saturday afternoon. Police forensic teams spent most of Saturday searching the area for evidence.

PSNI Det Chief Insp Gareth Talbot, who is leading the investigation, said: "I would like to extend my sympathy to the family of this young man and thank the wider community for their support during our investigation to date.

“A postmortem will be carried out in due course, however we believe at this stage that he died from the injuries he received following this attack.

“Inquiries are very much ongoing and I am asking witnesses or anyone who believes they can assist in the investigation in any way to contact Detectives on the non-emergency number 101.”

He said if someone preferred to provide information without giving their details they could contact independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

Press Association