People ‘still going to paramilitaries’ – police
People are still going to paramilitaries asking them to carry out attacks, according to a senior policeman.
PSNI Assistant Chief Constable Stephen Martin was speaking to UTV following a number of recent attacks that are linked to paramilitaries on both sides.
UDA gunmen are thought to behind a gun attack on a woman in Rathcoole last week. She was shot in both legs as she tried to flee from masked men at her home.
The Assistant Chief Constable told UTV: “That’s a very strong line of enquiry that the UDA is involved.
“It is a worrying development, I think, whenever people set about to shoot a woman, it adds a whole different gravity towards it and people’s consciousness.”
This week started as last week finished – with so-called street justice as paramilitaries were back out with their guns and other weapons – shooting and maiming.
Dissident republicans are being linked to the attempted murder in north Belfast and the beating of a Londonderry man.
In north Belfast forensic teams have been examining the scene off the Antrim Road where a 53-year-old man was shot in the face overnight.
ACC Martin said the victim, who has undergone emergency surgery, is “very lucky to be alive”.
Hours later in Londonderry, masked men forced their way into a house in the Creggan and viciously beat a man in his 30s.
Not only did those responsible beat him in front of his partner’s two young children, they also tried to set the house on fire.
Local Sinn Féin councillor Kevin Campbell said the family are “obviously in shock” and he has condemned those behind the attack.
“Well I can only guess the people that is behind this are obviously dissident republicans but again they need to step forward and tell this community why they’ve done this and what the nature of these attacks are about,” he said.
Even though investigations are at an early stage, police strongly believe dissident republicans were involved in both.
“These attacks are brutal. I think when you carry them out in front of young children it just adds an additional aspect to it, it just makes it even nastier,” ACC Martin commented.
Out of almost 230 paramilitary-style attacks carried out over the last two years, only five incidents have seen progress resulting in charges or files sent to the Public Prosecution Service.
ACC Martin admits he is not happy with their performance but he explains there are problems with getting victims to come forward.
“The difficulty is, is our legal system is created [so that] if you don’t have the cooperation from the victim it makes it virtually impossible to secure a prosecution and many victims won’t cooperate with us.”
There have been 13 assaults and shootings in the first two months of this year alone and a sharp rise in those carried out by loyalists.
Police have linked the UDA to four attacks in North Antrim and Coleraine, including the murder of Brian McIlhagga in Ballymoney in January.
“Mr McIlhagga was shot in the legs and he died,” the senior policeman commented.
“A number of other people have been shot in the legs and they have survived and that shows just an inch here or there or a centimetre here or there, a little bit more time for an ambulance to attend or a paramedic to arrive on the scene – can mean the difference between life and death.”
Twenty years after the ceasefires, police say the reality is people are still turning to the paramilitaries.
This is not a new problem, in fact it is a very old one.
The warning from police is clear – if it continues further lives could be lost.
