Man in court over murder of Derry man Paul McCauley

Paul McCauley, who was attacked by a gang in 2006, passed away last month.

A man has appeared in court charged with murder following a “brutal, sectarian” attack which left a victim in a vegetative state for nine years.

Piper John McClements, 24, from the Fountain Estate in Londonderry, was granted bail at Londonderry Magistrates’ Court.

Paul McCauley, a 38-year-old Catholic, spent almost a decade in care after he was attacked by loyalists at a barbecue in the Waterside area of Londonderry in July 2006.

He died in a home last month.

District judge John Meehan said: “This is a matter of acute public concern, one of the most brutal, sectarian attacks in a long catalogue.”

The accused, who was arrested in Derry’s Fountain estate on Thursday, was formerly known as Daryl Proctor.

He appeared in the dock wearing a hoodie, handcuffed and flanked by a police officer. Members of his family were in the public gallery.

Police stepped up the investigation into the attack in the wake of Mr McCauley’s death.