- Local father identified as hero who confronted knifeman in Belfast
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Hunt for Tube hero who gave blind man his shoes after he lost one through the gap The hunt is on find an ‘absolute hero’
Get you up to speed: Hero of Belfast who struck knifeman with Irish hurley stick identified as local dad | News UK
Maitiu Mág Tighearnán confronted an attacker armed with a knife in Belfast, using a hurley stick to defend a man being assaulted. The suspect, who has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, has not been publicly identified, and the victim remains in serious condition in hospital.
The suspect, believed to be Sudanese, has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, with a kitchen knife recovered at the scene. The victim, in his 40s, remains in serious condition in hospital with significant injuries.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer condemned the attack as “sickening,” expressing gratitude to those who intervened before police arrived. The PSNI confirmed the suspect has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, while the scene remains cordoned off for investigation.
What remains unclear — The condition of the victim remains serious, but updates on his recovery have not been provided.
Local father identified as hero who confronted knifeman in Belfast
Dozens of people are chipping in to buy the ‘hero of Belfast’ who stopped a knife man from stabbing a stranger a pint.
Maitiu Mág Tighearnán has posted that he was the man who confronted the attacker in Belfast last night.
As others shout ‘He’s trying to cut his head off’ and keep their distance local dad Maitiu runs into danger swinging his wooden hurley stick and landing well-aimed blows to the suspect’s face.
The suspect breaks his hold and rolls over moments before police arrive at the scene in Kinnaird Avenue.
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‘I live just 30 minutes away. I just thought this guy deserves something for his bravery, so I just got on it as soon as possible.
‘I have reached out to him online, but he hasn’t got back yet. He’s obviously got thousands of messages coming through.
‘It’s all over Facebook, everywhere on my feed is just full of pictures of him praising his bravery.’
Maitiu, himself, has been replying to social media comments saying how people could choose a more flattering photo of himself.
The victim, in his 40s, suffered ‘significant injuries to his eyes and serious slash wound injuries to his back and face’, police have said.
He remains in a serious condition in hospital.
Niall added: ‘For sure, he definitely has saved his life, providing the victim’s condition doesn’t worsen.
‘He’s given the man a chance. The hurley stick is such an Irish symbol – it is amazing what he did.’
He added: ‘If we can take anything from this horrific story, we can take pride in knowing that we can look out for each other. We should look out for each other, and that’s the beautiful thing about human connection and our society.’
PSNI chief constable Sir Jon Boutcher said the suspect, understood to be Sudanese, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of attempted murder.
A kitchen knife was also found at the scene.
The suspect is believed to have entered Northern Ireland via Dublin and in February 2023 claimed asylum. It is understood the Home Office granted the man leave to remain in Northern Ireland on 28 September 2023.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, hailed the men who intervened before police arrived, saying: ‘The horrific attack in Belfast last night is sickening.
‘I have absolutely no tolerance for abhorrent scenes of violence like this on our streets.
‘My thoughts are first and foremost with the victim, and I thank the first responders, including members of the public who intervened.’
The scene outside an apartment complex off Kinnaird Avenue in the lower Antrim Road area remained cordoned off on Tuesday morning, with markers visible on the ground where the attack had taken place.
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‘Cheer up, you caught the bad guy,’ says killer Virginia McCullough as she is arrested for murdering her parents
A woman who murdered her parents “in cold blood” before hiding them in makeshift tombs for four years told officers to “cheer up, you caught the bad guy” as she was arrested in her home.
Virginia McCullough, 36, poisoned her father John McCullough, 70, with prescription medication and fatally stabbed her mother Lois McCullough, 71, shortly afterwards in 2019.
She ran up large debts on credit cards in her parents’ names and after their deaths, she continued to spend their pensions until she was finally caught in 2023.
In body-worn video footage released by police, a handcuffed – and eerily calm – McCullough told officers: “I did know that this would kind of come eventually.
“It’s proper that I serve my punishment.”
She said she had slipped something into her father’s drink then put his body under a bed on the ground floor, and put her mother’s body in an upstairs wardrobe.
McCullough, having been arrested on suspicion of double murder, told an officer: “Cheer up, at least you’ve caught the bad guy.”
She added: “I know I don’t seem 100% evil.”
At the police station, she told officers where a kitchen knife was, which she described as a “murder weapon”, and a hammer which she said “will still have blood on it”.
McCullough, of Pump Hill, Chelmsford, Essex, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Friday with a minimum term of 36 years at Chelmsford Crown Court, after she admitted to their murders between 17 and 20 June 2019 at an earlier hearing at the same court.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard how she hid their bodies in makeshift tombs at the family home in Great Baddow in Essex, then told persistent lies to cover her tracks.
The court heard she cancelled family arrangements and frequently told doctors and relatives her parents were unwell, on holiday or away on lengthy trips.
But concerns over Mr and Mrs McCullough’s welfare were raised in September 2023 by a GP at their registered practice, and Essex County Council’s safeguarding team referred these to police.
The GP had not seen the couple for some time and said Mr McCullough had failed to collect medication and attend scheduled appointments. It was found McCullough had frequently cancelled appointments, using a range of excuses to explain her father’s absence.
Police said a missing persons investigation was initially launched and McCullough lied to officers, claiming her parents were travelling and would be returning in October.
It became a murder investigation, and when officers forced entry to the house in Pump Hill on September 15 2023, McCullough confessed that her parents’ bodies were in the house and that she had killed them.
Nicola Rice, a specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “McCullough callously and viciously killed both of her parents before concealing their bodies in makeshift tombs within their home address.
“She spent the next four years manipulating and lying to family members, medical staff, financial institutions, and the police, spending her parents’ money and accruing large debts in their name.”
She added: “This was a truly disturbing case, which has left behind it a trail of devastation, and I can only hope that the sentence passed today will help those who loved and cared for Lois and John begin to heal.”
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Defense alliance NATO chief Mark Rutte has met US President-elect Donald Trump to discuss global security issues, according to a NATO spokesperson.
The meeting took place in Palm Beach, Florida.
During his first term as US president, 2017-2020, Trump pushed for European NATO countries to spend more on defense and described the alliance’s cost-sharing as unfair to the US.
Rutte took over as NATO chief from Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg in November.
Before taking office in January, Trump has nominated Pete Hegseth for the post of defense secretary, which has raised eyebrows among many allies.
Hegseth, 44, has served as an infantry captain in Iraq and Afghanistan, but has no senior military or government officer experience.
Multiple missiles were fired in an airstrike towards a densely populated part of Lebanon’s capital early on Saturday.
The huge airstrike targeted Beirut’s Basta neighbourhood, and no prior warnings were given by the Israeli military. The largely residential area was struck last month.
At least one violent explosion was heard across the city, Reuters witnesses said, and plumes of smoke could be seen. Scenes of massive destruction at the site were shared online, including a massive crater in the ground.
“Beirut, the capital, woke up to a horrific massacre, as the Israeli enemy’s air force completely destroyed an eight-story residential building with five missiles on Al-Mamoun Street in Basta,” the state-run National News Agency reported.
The health ministry put the initial death toll at four, with 23 wounded. The number is expected to climb in the coming hours as search and rescue efforts continue.
It came after a long day of Israeli airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, which have been non-stop since last week.
The cross-border fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group escalated into a full-blown war in mid-September.
Israel has bombed southern Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs and the eastern Beqaa region, and has sent ground troops across the border. Hezbollah has continued to fire rockets deeper into Israel.
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