Detectives investigating the murder yesterday of a man whose battered body was found in his first floor flat in Omagh's Mullaghmore Drive estate have confirmed that the police had been called to several disturbances in the flat over last weekend.
The body of Mr Andrew Bannon, aged in his fifties, who was separated from his wife, was found lying on the floor just inside the flat by members of the emergency services who were called to the area at 4.30 a.m. yesterday.
Mr Bannon, a father of four, had sustained what the police called horrific and savage head injuries when he was attacked by a number of people inside his flat. He was dead when paramedics found his body.
Another man who was staying in Mr Bannon's flat, Mr Ignatius Neville, suffered multiple fractures and head injuries when he too was attacked. Mr Neville, who is believed to be in his sixties, was in a serious but not life-threatening condition in Omagh Hospital yesterday.
The flat in which the attack took place was described as "a drinking den" by residents of the estate, who did not wish to be named. It is believed that Mr Bannon and Mr Neville were both alcoholics.
Two windows in the flat were smashed during disturbances last week. As detectives yesterday carried out door-to-door inquiries in the estate, Supt Michael Skuce, who is leading the PSNI murder investigation, said Mr Bannon died a horrific death. "It was brutal and savage in the extreme," he said.
"Both men were known locally as very quiet people who kept to themselves. We believe that a gang forced their way into the flat between midnight and half past four this morning and just beat this man to death using a heavy blunt instrument, " he said.
Supt Skuce also said it was too early to say if the killing was linked to a paramilitary group.