14 December 2006 Edition
Ballymena teenager lucky to be alive
The Ballymena teenager attacked last weekend by a loyalist mob says he is lucky to be alive.
And in a cruel twist of fate the attack on the 17-year-old was carried out in Granville Drive, just yards from where 15-year-old Michael McIlveen was fatally wounded in May of this year. The teenager later died from the wounds he suffered.
According to other reports the loyalist mob behind the attack had been cruising the Ballymena area looking for Catholics to attack. The gang confronted a number of people but they managed to escape uninjured.
In this latest sectarian attack the 17 year old youth, from Martinstown, near Glenravel just north of Ballymena suffered head injuries which left him unconscious and needed hospital treatment. He also underwent surgery for a finger injury.
The youth’s friends told the media that the loyalist mob attacked them as they sat in a garden hut in Granville Drive.
“He is lucky to be alive”, said one friend.
Speaking to An Phoblacht Sinn Féin councillor Monica Digney who sits on Ballymena council called on the, “DUP dominated council to show political leadership and confront those intent on stirring the pot of sectarian violence in Ballymena”.
And in a cruel twist of fate the attack on the 17-year-old was carried out in Granville Drive, just yards from where 15-year-old Michael McIlveen was fatally wounded in May of this year. The teenager later died from the wounds he suffered.
According to other reports the loyalist mob behind the attack had been cruising the Ballymena area looking for Catholics to attack. The gang confronted a number of people but they managed to escape uninjured.
In this latest sectarian attack the 17 year old youth, from Martinstown, near Glenravel just north of Ballymena suffered head injuries which left him unconscious and needed hospital treatment. He also underwent surgery for a finger injury.
The youth’s friends told the media that the loyalist mob attacked them as they sat in a garden hut in Granville Drive.
“He is lucky to be alive”, said one friend.
Speaking to An Phoblacht Sinn Féin councillor Monica Digney who sits on Ballymena council called on the, “DUP dominated council to show political leadership and confront those intent on stirring the pot of sectarian violence in Ballymena”.