Paul McCauley: Man admits murder on first day of trial

A 28-year-old man has admitted the murder of Londonderry man Paul McCauley.

Piper John McClements, previously known as Daryl Proctor, from the Fountain area of Derry, pleaded guilty on the first day of his trial on Wednesday.

He has been sentenced to life in prison.

Mr McCauley died nine years after he was attacked at a barbecue in Derry in 2006.

McClements, 28, put his head down low onto his hands in the dock before he was led away.

The case was heard before Londonderry Crown Court, sitting in Belfast.

Mr McCauley, a 29-year-old civil servant, was assaulted during a summer barbeque for a friend at Chapel Road in the Waterside on 16 July 2006.

In the early hours of the morning, a number of people attacked him and two of his friends.

The father-of-one suffered serious head injuries and never regained consciousness.

He died in a care facility in June 2015.

The trial of Matthew Gillen, who is also charged with the murder of Mr McCauley, is due to start on Thursday.