Police investigating the murder of a man in Co Down who was recently released from prison have appealed for anyone with information to come forward.
The 84-year-old man was named yesterday evening as Sean Small, who served three years for sexual offences.
The incident happened at around 10.30pm on Sunday night in Slievenabrock Avenue in Newcastle.
The PSNI received a report that a man appeared to have been killed in the seaside town.
When officers arrived at the scene, they found a body in the back garden of the house in the quiet residential area at the foot of the Mourne Mountains.
Small had committed ten sexual offences against a young girl and a woman.
He was convicted after confessing to the offences in July 2022 and had been released from prison early last month.
The offences were committed between 2016 and 2018, when Small was in his mid 70s.
He was sentenced to three years in prison and three years under supervision in the community.
Small also had to sign the sexual offenders’ register for life.
It is understood that a window in his house may have been broken shortly after he was released from prison.
The PSNI has not disclosed details of the cause of Small’s death.
Officers carried out door-to-door inquiries along the street and urged people “not to speculate”.