Vigil held after family found dead in house in Ballymena

A vigil has been held for an eight-year-old girl and her 39-year-old mother who are understood to be victims of a double murder in Ballymena, County Antrim.

They were found dead at a house on the Cullybackey Road on Monday where the body of a 41-year-old man - understood to be a male relative - was also discovered.

The case is being treated as a suspected double murder and suicide.

The family was originally from Poland, although it is understood the child was born in Northern Ireland.

The vigil started at the Braid Arts Centre at 18:30 BST.

Romana Nowak, who has lived in the town for 20 years, said she came to the vigil because it was a "tragic" situation and a "shock".

She said she did not know the family but it was "very emotional".

Helen McDowell is a member of Youth Ambassadors Northern Ireland, who organised the vigil.

She said it was held to "let the community show their support to the Polish community in our town, we stand as one".

"They just wanted to put a hand out there to show the family and to maybe help the family through things," McDowell added.

She said when the victims' family returned from Poland there would be another vigil.

Deputy Mayor of Mid and East Antrim, Bethany Carson-Ferris, addressed those who gathered in Ballymena on Wednesday evening.

Speaking to BBC News NI during the vigil, she said "it's important that when tragedies like this happen" that people "should always be reminded that there is a place to go".

"Once again... there should never be violence against women and girls.

"There should never be violence against anyone in our community, and that's what we should want to see eradicated," added the Ulster Unionist Party councillor.

Carson-Ferris called for "more protections and more support".

Prayers were said for the family during a service at All Saints Catholic Church on Wednesday morning.

The honorary consul of Poland in Northern Ireland, Jerome Mullen, said he had never experienced such a tragedy in his 18 years in the job.

PSNI Supt William Calderwood said emergency services were met with a "shocking scene".

Police have said the cause of the deaths has not been formally established and they are not seeking anyone else in relation to the deaths.

At a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Calderwood said they were keeping an open mind, but they were working on a "strong hypothesis" of a "double murder followed by a sudden death".

He expressed his deepest sympathies to family members, friends and loved ones for their "unimaginable loss".

Earlier, Sonya McMullan from Women's Aid told BBC News NI she was "absolutely devastated" when she heard about the deaths.

"Yet another family is experiencing such grief and loss that no family should ever have to go through," she said.

Women's Aid has kept track of the number of women and girls who have been killed in Northern Ireland since 2020 and McMullan said this case brings that toll to 31.

"We contribute to the femicide record across the whole of the UK, but it's devastating having to keep that record and it's so very important that we remember each and every one of them."

McMullan said political leaders, the media and members of the public all have a part to play in stopping violence against women and girls.

"This is a call to action that every one of us needs to do more," she added.

Elaine Crory from Women's Resource and Development Agency said: "I think the most positive thing we can do is commit ourselves to tackling violence against women and girls everywhere it lies."

The MP for the area, Jim Allister of the Traditional Unionist Voice, said it added an "extra dimension of horror" knowing that an eight-year-old girl had died.

"My heart goes out to the relatives in the Ballymena area and to those in Poland. I am also mindful of the school friends of the child and the distress they will suffer," he said.

Justice Minister Naomi Long said she sent her heartfelt sympathy to family members affected by the deaths.

Sunflowers and daisies were among the array of floral tributes left at the back of the property, in memory of those who had their lives cut short in a most tragic way.

One card read: "Forever loved and never forgotten. Taken far too soon."

A lit candle flickered among the flowers, where a teddy bear was also perched.

Above the tributes, a police cordon surrounding the scene remained in place.