By Iain Gray
Copyright newsletter
The 42-year-old died in hospital after he was discovered seriously injured at an address in the Wardsborough Road area of the city. Police launched a murder investigation, and continue to question a 37-year-old man and a 38-year-old woman. Detectives were today (16th) granted a court extension giving an extra 36 hours to quiz the suspects. The move comes after senior police moved to reassure the public the PSNI’s homicide squad doesn’t need help from other forces in mainland Britain. Chief Constable Jon Boutcher recently revealed he’d thought of asking for help from other forces in the UK due to his homicide detectives’ high caseloads – and that was before the killing of Mr Furfey. Appearing before the Policing Board a few days ago, Mr Boutcher said he had considered taking what he described as the “unprecedented” step of asking for officers from forces in Britain to be sent over to help his homicide investigators, a process known as “national mutual assistance” within UK law enforcement. Stating there had been nine murders in Northern Ireland since the end of June – now 10, with the killing of Mr Furfey – the chief constable said: “Due to the high number of cases being managed coupled with our low numbers of detectives, I considered seeking national mutual assistance for our homicide teams. “I think that would be unprecedented. Eventually, people are going to listen to the resourcing challenges of this organisation.” In the wake of the province’s tenth recent murder, however, Assistant Chief Constable Davy Beck reassured that the PSNI doesn’t need outside help yet. “The recent number of murders is, of course, concerning and presents challenges for the Police Service,” he told the News Letter. “However, I can confirm that the assessment at this point is that we have not met the threshold for seeking specific mutual aid for our Serious Crime Branch.” Mr Furfey’s death continues to send shockwaves across Lisburn, with councillors Gary Hynds and Jonathan Craig both stating the area has been stunned by such extreme violence on the cusp of the city centre.
