A 20-YEAR-OLD man has been arrested and is helping the PSNI with its inquiries into the murder of a woman in Bangor, Co Down.
Katie Hughes (21), the mother of a young child who lived in the town, was stabbed at a house party in the quiet residential Park Avenue area on Monday night. She died later in hospital.
One man who lives locally said: “My son and two friends [who were at the party] stepped outside for a smoke. There was no rowing or anything, he said it was completely out of the blue.
“He heard a noise and he came in and the girl had been stabbed.”
The North Down borough deputy mayor Ian Parsley said the number of violent attacks in Bangor’s town centre had decreased markedly in recent years.
The Alliance councillor said the claim that the local community was in shock over the murder was an understatement.
“Local residents . . . assumed it was the usual party incident. I think people are shocked for two reasons, one is the gravity of what has happened.
“The number of violent crimes in Bangor town centre has in fact reduced sharply in recent years, so for this to happen has caused genuine shock.”
He added that the murder had been committed in the middle of what he called a “vibrant residential area”.
DUP Assembly member Alex Easton said: “I am absolutely shocked and horrified at what has happened and I want to totally and utterly condemn the loss of life of a young lady and appeal for anyone with information to come forward.”