Down: Farmer's son shot repeatedly with shotgun
A farmer’s son found murdered on a rural country road was blasted repeatedly with a shotgun, it emerged tonight.
Philip Strickland, 36, was so badly injured that it is not yet known exactly how many times he was shot.
Detectives are investigating whether the murder in Co Down was linked to a criminal feud within the local farming community. Mr Strickland was known to the police.
Described as a loner who lived alone in nearby east Belfast, he was found last night lying in the front of his blue Citroen Saxo car on the quiet Ballydrain Road near the village of Comber, where he was originally from.
Three men – believed to be a father and his two sons from the Comber area - were arrested today in connection with the shooting.
The three suspects – aged 54, 26 and 25 – have been taken to the police’s Serious Crime Suite in Antrim for questioning.
Members of the public who made the gruesome discovery at around 9pm attempted to resuscitate the badly bleeding Mr Strickland, but he was declared dead in hospital a short time later.
His killers botched an attempt to set the car alight before fleeing from the scene.
It is understood a number of vehicles made off along the Ballydrain Road in the direction of Lisbane village after the incident.
PSNI) Detective Superintendent Brian Hanna described the killing as a “vicious murder”.
“It is a very vicious murder and in an area such as Comber, which has a very low crime rate, it is highly unexpected,” he said.
“The people of Comber don’t expect that. But I would like to provide reassurance to the people of Comber at this time that the investigation is being led by specialist detectives from the Crime Operations Department supported by our uniformed colleagues.”
The officer said he was not prepared to rule out any line of inquiry at what was an early stage of the investigation.
Mr Hanna added: “However I would appeal to anybody who knows Philip Strickland - we know he was a 36-year-old man who lived alone in east Belfast – so if anybody knew what Philip was doing over the last 24 hours, who he was with, where he was, it would be most helpful if you could contact us.”
Ballydrain Road is a rural, narrow route south of Comber, close to the Strangford Lough, and is popular with fishermen and yachtsmen. It is around 10-15 miles from Belfast.
The area was sealed off throughout the day as detectives investigated and forensics experts searched the ground for clues.
Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson and Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness expressed their shock and anger at the murder.
Mr Robinson said: “The local area has been numbed by this terrible crime. Deeds like this have no place in society and those who carried out this murder have nothing positive to offer. I call on the community to work with the police in order to apprehend those responsible.”
Mr McGuinness echoed the condemnation.
“There can be no justification for the callous and brutal murder of this young man,” he said. “This action will be rightly condemned across the entire community and we all hope that the perpetrators of this senseless crime will be brought to justice as soon as possible.”
Both ministers expressed their condolences to the family of Mr Strickland.
Anyone with information is urged to contact the police on 0845 600 8000 or confidentially on the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 1111.
