Vigil to be held after family found dead in house in Ballymena

A vigil is to be held on Wednesday evening 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 will be held at the Braid Arts Centre at 18:30 BST.

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 told BBC News NI.

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.

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".

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.