TRIBUTES HAVE BEEN paid to the victims of a double murder in Co Antrim over the weekend. 

Two women and one man were found dead in Newtownabbey on Friday night following searches at two residential properties. 

The two women have been named by the PSNI as 50-year-old Karen McClean and 30-year-old Stacey Knell. 

“This was a really shocking and horrific double murder of two women inside their own homes. A place where they should have been safe,” PSNI Detective Chief Inspector John Caldwell said. 

“My thoughts are very much with their families as they come to terms with their tragic loss. Both women were mothers and this appalling murder has left children facing a lifetime without their mums,” he said. 

Just after 10.55pm on Friday night, police received a report of a stabbing at a residential property in the Derrycoole Way area. 

Officers attended the scene and a woman was pronounced dead. 

Officers then attended a residential property in the Glenville Road area where a second woman was found dead. 

An unconscious man was also found inside the property who subsequently died. Police have named him as 26-year-old Kenneth Flanagan. 

“I am not looking for anyone else in connection with the murders which I believe are connected,” Caldwell said. 

Rev Billy Davison, of Newtownabbey Methodist Mission, told BBC News the community was “stunned” by the tragedy. 

“When things like this happen the community of Rathcoole tend to rally round and offer their support,” he said. 

“On behalf of the local community I want to offer sympathy to the bereaved,” he said. 

Women’s Aid Northern Ireland has offered its “sincere condolences” to the family and friends of the two victims. 

On Saturday, Sinn Féin MP John Finucane said: “My first thoughts are with the family and friends of the women who were brutally killed last night.

“It’s important to bear in mind that at the heart of this tragedy are grieving families.

“The local community are absolutely shocked and stunned by these killings.

“These brutal killings highlight once again the need to oppose all violence against women and the need for a Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy in the north.”

Anyone with information which may assist the PSNI’s investigation is asked to contact 101 and quote reference number 2441 of 19/03/21.

With reporting by Press Association