A 23-year-old man is believed to be in a critical condition after being beaten by a mob in the Botanic area of south Belfast. The man was walking with two friends along Cromwell Road at about 4 a.m. yesterday when he was approached by a gang. A row ensued and the man was knocked to the ground and beaten. It is unclear whether the attack had a sectarian motive.
Meanwhile, a 16-year-old youth was taken from his home at Westcroft Park in west Belfast early yesterday and viciously beaten. He sustained injuries which bore the hallmarks of a so-called paramilitary-style punishment attack.
On Friday night, a 35-yearold man was shot in both hands, feet and elbows in a similar punishment attack in the Mountpottinger area of east Belfast. On the same night, a 17-year-old youth was stabbed in the back by a gang on the Shore Road in Newtownabbey, north Belfast.
In Portadown, Co Antrim, two shots were fired at a house in Westland Row on Friday night. The occupants escaped uninjured. Local people believe the incident could have been part of an internal feud between loyalist paramilitary groups, the UVF and the LVF.