Teen beaten by loyalist gang
A Catholic teenager has been attacked and beaten up by a loyalist gang in Coleraine.
A police spokesperson has confirmed the attack on the 17-year-old was being treated as a sectarian hate crime.
The victim was approached, assaulted and verbally abused in broad daylight in a carpark in the Long Commons area of the town.
A group of five young men, described as wearing hoodies, carried out the attack at around 12pm on Monday.
Police appealed for anyone who witnessed the attack to contact them.
The teenager was not understood to have suffered serious life-threatening injuries.
Community tensions have continued to run high in Coleraine in the wake of the murder by a loyalist mob of Catholic community worker Kevin McDaid in May.
Ten people have so far been charged in connection with Mr McDaid’s killing, including six with murder.
‘A sinister development’
East Londonderry SDLP Assembly member John Dallat said the attack was a sinister development which must be stopped before another person suffered serious injury or worse.
He said the Long Commons car park was close to the spot where another young person suffered serious head injuries in an attack last year when he was repeatedly stamped on.
Given the current unrest in Coleraine there was an urgent need for collective action from police and public who needed the support of the courts when people were charged, said Mr Dallat.
“People are losing faith in the legal system and are convinced that the courts are handing out ‘kid glove’ treatment to sectarian elements responsible for much of the trouble in Coleraine.
“It is important that policing and justice is devolved to the Assembly as quickly as possible so that hate laws are reviewed and those involved understand that cornering a child in a car park to spew out bigotry is an offence which deserves a long period behind bars.”
Alliance councillor Barney Fitzpatrick said it was a disgusting attack and particularly worrying given recent events in the town.
“All public representatives in the town must unite and again send out a clear message that sectarianism and violence will not be tolerated.
“The town has had a difficult few weeks and I believe that the small minority of thugs involved in recent events are totally unrepresentative of this area,” he said.
