Suspect detained after Sean Small, who had recently served prison sentence for sex offences, found dead in Newcastle
Police in Northern Ireland have arrested a man on suspicion of the murder of Sean Small, an 84-year-old who had recently served a prison sentence for sex offences.
The suspect, in his 40s, was detained on Tuesday two days after Small’s body was discovered outside his home on Slievenabrock Avenue in Newcastle, County Down.
Police said the victim was last seen alive on 19 August and at some point between then and 24 August he had sustained a “brutal and sustained attack”.
In 2022, Small pleaded guilty to 10 sexual offences against a woman described as “vulnerable” and a teenage girl. He was sentenced to three years in prison and three years under supervision in the community, and had recently returned home.
