Murder charge after death of man following Co Antrim house fire
A 34-year-old woman on Friday was charged with murder by detectives investigating the death of a man following a house fire in Co Antrim earlier this week. Patrick ‘Paddy’ Douglas (55) on Tuesday died in hospital after being taken from his home on Main Street in Ballymoney by fire crews responding to the blaze.The accused woman is expected to appear before Ballymena Magistrates Court on Saturday. Mr Douglas, described by friends as a “local legend”, was a father of three and grandfather of one. Tributes left at the scene of a fire on the Main Street in Ballymoney where Patrick Douglas was rescued from a flat but later died in hospital. PICTURE: MARGARET MCLAUGHLIN 4-7-2025 (MARGARET MCLAUGHLIN PHOTOGRAPHY ) Police investigating the fire initially said it was not being treating as deliberate.“Police can confirm a man in his fifties has died following a fire at a house in the Main Street area of Ballymoney,” the PSNI said in a statement. “Police received a report of a fire shortly before 7:00am and attended alongside colleagues from Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service who worked to extinguish the blaze.“This is not being treated as deliberate. Colleagues from Northern Ireland Ambulance Service conveyed one man to hospital where he sadly died.”
