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Man pleads guilty to murder of Richard Miskelly outside house in Newtownards

&nbsp;Richard Miskelly died in February 2016<br />
 Richard Miskelly died in February 2016
 Richard Miskelly died in February 2016

A FATHER-of-one has been given a life sentence after he admitted beating a 24 year-old Co Down man to death outside a house in Co Down.

Rhys Magee appeared at Belfast Crown Court, where he pleaded guilty to a charge of murdering Richard Miskelly in Newtownards.

Despite attempts by emergency services to save him Mr Miskelly died outside a house on the Bangor Road in the early hours of February 26, 2017.

Magee, from Carrowdore Road in Newtownards, carried out the attack after consuming both alcohol and ketamine.

After ordering Mr Miskelly to leave the house, Magee followed him down the driveway and subjected him to two separate attacks.

He initially denied a charge of murder and was due to stand trial next week. However, his barrister Martin O'Rourke asked for his client to be re-arraigned and when the charge of murdering Mr Miskelly was put to him again he replied "guilty".

The 20-year old was also charged with two counts of perverting the course of justice in the aftermath of the attack.

It was the Crown's case that Magee initially claimed he had just arrived at the scene in a taxi and came across Mr Miskelly lying on the ground.

He also told his friend "you came home an hour before me and you didn't see anything."

However, Crown barrister Ciaran Murphy QC said that as these two charges were subsumed within the murder, he asked that they be 'left on the book' and not proceeded with.

After Magee admitted the murder charge, a mandatory life sentence was imposed by Mr Justice Colton.

The judge then set a tariff hearing for February 23.

It also emerged during yesterday's hearing that victim impact statements will be sought ahead of the sentencing hearing, along with pre-sentence reports compiled on Magee.