Hundreds of people attended the vigil organized to ‘pay tribute’ to Karen Cummings

Hundreds of people attended vigils in Banbridge and Newry for County Down woman Karen Cummings, who died after being found injured at the weekend.

Ms Cummings, a children’s nurse, was found unconscious with serious head injuries in Laurel Heights, Bainbridge, on Saturday evening. She died at the scene.

The two men, Glenn King, 32, of no fixed address in Lurgan, and Kevin McGuigan Jr, 42, of Annacloy Park, Hillsborough. Appeared at Newry Magistrates Court on Wednesday He was accused of murder.

Earlier on Thursday, the Attorney General for Northern Ireland again urged people to be wary of comments posted on social media in relation to active criminal cases.

More than 600 people attended a vigil in Bainbridge on Thursday evening.

Banners bearing the names of 25 women murdered in Northern Ireland since 2020 were waved.

There were also candles, speeches and a minute’s silence.

Among those speaking at the event was Noel McNally, whose pregnant daughter Natalie was murdered in Lurgan in December 2022.

Eileen Murphy, chief executive of Women’s Aid Down/Armagh, said the vigil was organized in response to the local community.

“Our vigil tonight is for all the women who have been murdered this year – seven of them have been murdered to date and the year is not over yet,” she said.

He said the huge turnout was “a tribute to Karen and her memory that her community, her local community, felt so strongly about her murder”.

“Normally we don’t have that many people come to our meetings – there was a huge turnout tonight,” he said.

Alliance Cllr Joey Ferguson was also among those attending the vigil.

Speaking to BBC News NI she called for “a change in society towards women”.

“The message is that we need to stop violence against women.”

Ferguson said: “We need reform of the justice system, and we need consensual, respectful relationships and we need role models to demonstrate them in society, we need broader change in society towards women.”

John O’Dowd, Sinn Féin, said society must do everything possible to end such incidents.

He said he wanted to “send a clear message that violence is wrong, violence against women is wrong and it has to stop”.

“As a society, as individuals, as legislators, as decision makers we have to do everything within our power to end this.”

Earlier, Attorney General Dame Brenda King said Ms Cummings’ death had “obviously attracted a lot of criticism”.

“The tragedy and emotional nature of such cases cannot be underestimated,” he said.

“However, a member of the public may be guilty of contempt of court as a result of a publication or comment on social media in relation to active criminal proceedings.”

The Attorney General said, “As two individuals have been arrested and charged in connection with this matter, these proceedings are activated for the purposes of the Contempt of Court Act 1981.”

“Counsel reminds the public that social media posts have the potential to influence jurors who must decide whether someone is guilty of a crime based on the reasonable evidence before them.

“A person can be found guilty of contempt of court if anything they publish creates a substantial risk that justice in criminal proceedings will be seriously obstructed or prejudiced, even if “Whatever their intentions in doing so may be.”

He said that publication, whether online or in print, could amount to contempt of court if:

• Draws attention to the defendant’s previous convictions or comments on his character.

• Gives an outlook on the facts or evidence that will be considered during trial.

• Discloses someone’s name in violation of an injunction or court order.

• Provide the names of victims, witnesses, and perpetrators under the age of 18.

• Name the woman who is a victim of sexual crime.

• Anyone sharing information about a case that a judge has ordered to be kept private.

• Records and/or shares images, video content, or sound clips of court proceedings.

If found guilty of contempt of court, he can be punished with imprisonment of up to two years.