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Paul McCauly PSNI
2006 attack

Man due in court over murder of man who was left in vegetative state

Attacked after a summer barbecue in 2006, Paul McCauley died in care in the early hours of 7 June this year.

Updated 08.54am

A 24-YEAR-OLD man has been charged with the murder of Paul McCauley – the civil servant left in a vegetative state in the wake of an attack in Derry in 2006.

He is to appear before L’Derry Magistrates’ court today.

The victim died in care in the early hours of 7 June this year.

He had been left with major brain damage after being attacked by a gang in July 2006 – and his injuries meant he was unable to move or communicate, and required 24-hour care.

McCauley, a Catholic civil servant who was 30 at the time of the attack, had attended a summer barbecue on the night of the incident.

He and two friends had left the house in the early hours of the morning when they were set-upon by a group of up to 15 people.

Police said that the attack was unprovoked and sectarian.

Announcing a murder investigation last month, senior investigating officer Michael Harvey praised Paul’s family and extended his sympathy to them.

In 2014, the chief constable of the PSNI said he was sorry that more people had not been brought to justice over the attack. One man jailed for 12 years for his part in the assault was released earlier this year.

Read: Five arrests over assault that left man in vegetative state

Read: Man left in vegetative state dies nine years after vicious attack