Belfast city centre: Homeless woman found dead in doorway was 'amazing' person

Catherine Kenny was found dead in a shop doorway in Belfast

A homeless woman who died in Belfast city centre at the weekend has been described as "an amazing" person.

Thirty-two-year-old Catherine Kenny was found dead in a shop doorway at the corner of Donegall Place and Castle Lane on Saturday morning.

Her sister, Lee-Marie Hughes, told the BBC that Catherine's death left her feeling "devastated" and "heartbroken".

Police are investigating the cause of her death but a crime is not suspected.

Catherine Kenny is the fifth person to die in Belfast this year who had been receiving help from homeless charities.

Addiction

Ms Hughes described her sister as a caring person who, "would have helped the lowest in society".

She also spoke of how drugs had a significant impact on Catherine's life.

"We had a very intense and long battle with Catherine and her addiction to alcohol and drugs," she told the Stephen Nolan show.

"We've been dealing with this since Catherine was 16, but, back then, it was never hard drugs. But then they gripped her with a vengeance."

Police are investigating her exact cause of death but said a crime is not suspected

Demons

Mrs Hughes husband, Darren, said Catherine had tried on numerous occasions to turn her life around.

"Catherine got to a dark place and unfortunately tried many times to come back on the path again but wasn't able to.

"I firmly believe that a lot of that was from not being able to avail of residential detox and addictions care.

"She kind of just moved around to try and start somewhere afresh - a fresh start would be a fresh outlook on life, but unfortunately the demons just followed her".

Tributes have been left to the woman in Belfast city centre

Emergency Accommodation

The Extern charity said it had worked with Ms Kenny and had offered her emergency accommodation.

Danny McQuillan, a direct with Extern, said it was a "complete tragedy that once again another homeless person has died on our streets".

"Nobody should be living and certainly nobody should be dying on our streets in 2016," he said.

Ms Kenny was found by a passerby who knew her.

James Edwards told the BBC: "I walked past her and I noticed her sleeping bag wasn't wrapped around her."

James Edwards, who knew the victim, found her body in a shop doorway

He noticed that something was wrong when he tried to cover her with the sleeping bag, and the emergency services were called to the scene.

"She was a really, really nice girl and she didn't have a bad bone in her body," Mr Edwards said.

"It's just an awful shame - this girl could have had help."

Last month, the lord mayor of Belfast held an emergency meeting of agencies that work with the homeless following the death of a man in a shop doorway in High Street on 24 February.