Murder victim Karol Kelly who was stabbed to death in Derry in the early hours of Sunday morning. Two brothers remanded in custody charged with his murder
TWO brothers have faced Derry Magistrates’ Court today charged with the brutal weekend murder of Karol Kelly.
The 35-year-old was attacked outside a house party in Grafton Street in the Rosemount area of the city around 2.30 am on Sunday morning morning.
Despite the valiant efforts of paramedics, the father-of-five died in the back of the ambulance from multiple stab wounds.
Gary Anderson, 20, and his 19-year-old brother Sean, both of Grafton Street, were brought from the PACE custody suite at Strand Road police station to Bishop Street courthouse for a first remand hearing.
Both men are jointly charged with the murder of Mr Kelly.
There was a large police presence in the court building ahead of the appearance of the brothers who were arrested on Sunday by detectives from the PSNI’s Major Investigation Team.
Inside the courtroom, members of the PSNI’s Tactical Support Group formed a human guard in the public gallery to keep the Anderson and Kelly families apart as tensions were high over the murder.
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One man holding a picture of Mr Kelly was escorted out of the court by police before the brothers were brought from the cells up to the dock.
However, as he left the courtroom, the man held aloft a picture of Mr Kelly to members of the Anderson family which was met by cheers from the Kelly family.
Despite repeated warnings from District Judge Barney McElhom about the conduct of people in court, he ordered the courtroom to be cleared before proceedings continued.
Neither defendant applied for bail and both were remanded into custody to Hydebank Wood Young Offenders Centre in Belfast.
They will appear back in court via video link on Thursday, March 29.
