Gardai fear dad killed with a brick

Conor Kane

A DAD who lay dead for up to 24 hours at a derelict building may have been attacked with a cement brick.

GARDAI are investigating if Martin Brophy (22) was hit with a block sometime on Sunday evening.

His body was discovered by a group of teenagers at a former college building in Waterford city around 5.30pm on Monday.

He has suffered serious head injuries. A post-mortem examination is expected to show if he was assaulted or if he fell to his death.

It is understood he may have been struck with a cement block sometime on Sunday evening in the disused property.

Devastated

His partner Mary Smith was said by her family to be "devastated" by the death and was "too upset" to speak to the media.

The couple were together for four years and have a two-year-old son, Davin.

Ms Smith was asked to identify the body of her partner at Waterford Regional Hospital.

"You couldn't meet a nicer lad," her mother, also called Mary Smith, said yesterday.

"He was sound out, quiet. He idolised his family... He was a devoted dad," she added.

Mr Brophy's partner last saw him on Saturday when they celebrated a family first Communion with the Smiths.

Gardai investigating the death have appealed for information to be passed onto the station in Waterford city on 051-305300.

hnews@herald.ie