Police have made a third arrest in the investigation into the killing of Monaghan teenager Jason McGovern in Omagh, Co Tyrone, on Sunday.
A 21-year-old man, arrested on Wednesday, has been released on police bail pending further inquiries, and an 18- year-old man, also arrested on Wednesday, remains in custody. Yesterday, a 17-year-old youth from the Omagh area was arrested, and is in custody, assisting police with their inquiries. The investigation is being led by the Police Service of Northern Ireland and supported by the Garda.
Mr McGovern (19) was punched outside a pub on John Street, Omagh, on Sunday, after being involved earlier in a verbal exchange with a group of men. He was attacked again a short time later at a car park on Cunningham Terrace.
Later, he made his way to Mullan village, near Emyvale, Co Monaghan, where he had been staying with friends. Mr McGovern was found dead at midday on New Year’s Eve. A postmortem examination showed the young man’s death had been due to a head injury he suffered during the initial assault. Det Chief Insp Richard Harkness, who is leading the investigation, said the death was consistent with “one-punch” fatalities that had claimed the lives of 20 people in Northern Ireland since 2004.
Partnership meeting
An emergency meeting of the Omagh Policing and Community Safety Partnership took place yesterday afternoon to discuss the murder of Mr McGovern and other incidents in Omagh over the Christmas and new year period.
Among the issues under discussion at the private meeting was a community safety review of the night-time economy. On December 21st, six police officers were injured during a night of violence in Omagh, when they were attacked after attempting to break up fights between groups of revellers.
More than 20 reports of assaults, disorderly behaviour and criminal damage were recorded. Police used CS spray in some of the incidents, and 14 arrests were made for public order and assault offences.