Former Derry football captain charged with manslaughter

A former GAA star has appeared in court charged with manslaughter over the death of a man in Co Antrim at the weekend.

Father-of-two Aaron Law, 34, was found with injuries on Main Street in the village of Portglenone in the early hours of Sunday.

He died later that day in Antrim Area Hospital.

Fergal Gerard Doherty, 41, of Main Street in Portglenone, appeared before Ballymena Magistrates' Court sitting in Antrim.

He faced one charge of manslaughter in relation to the death of Mr Law in Portglenone on 30 October.

A detective sergeant told the court the incident had taken place after Mr Law was escorted from Pat's Bar in the village, which is owned by Mr Doherty.

Around 20-30 people had been in the bar on Saturday night going into the early hours of Sunday, including a stag party.

He said that Mr Doherty and a member of door staff when approached by police at the scene denied having seen an assault take place.

But Mr Doherty was arrested later that day and gave a full account of what happened, the officer said.

He said Mr Doherty followed the member of door staff as they escorted Mr Law outside the bar, and intervened between the pair during what was described as a "verbal altercation".

"This was in the middle of the road, Mr Law attempted to hit Mr Doherty and Mr Doherty reacted by punching Mr Law to the face causing Mr Law to fall back on to his head and his head connecting with the road," the police officer told the court.

Mr Law was described as having been left lying in the middle of the road, where at one point a car had to brake to avoid colliding with him.

The police officer said a witness said Mr Law was lying on the road for between ten to 15 minutes before Mr Doherty and the door staff member returned, pulled him on to the