23 April 1998 Edition
Sectarian murder in Portadown
By Laura Friel
Portadown councillors Breandan MacCionnaith and Joe Duffy have advised Catholics to exercise extreme vigilance following the sectarian murder of a Catholic worker at a Council depot on Tuesday.
``It is obvious that this murder, carried out in close proximity to the town centre, was the work of the Loyalist Volunteer Force,'' said MacCionnaith. ``Their victim was chosen for no reason other than being a Catholic and the location where he was employed made him an easy target.''
Adrian Lamph, a 30-year-old Catholic father of one from the Garvaghy Road area of Portadown, was shot dead by a lone gunman at a council skip yard off Duke Street in the loyalist Fair Green. At around 4pm, a gunman, wearing dark clothes, his face covered with a red, white and blue scarf and baseball cap and riding a mountain bike, singled his victim out before shooting Adrian Lamph at close range twice in the head. Adrian died less than two hours later at Craigavon District hospital. He had been working at the depot for less than six months.
``Coming less than 24 hours after a statement from the LVF which said they would not be calling a ceasefire,'' said MacCionnaith, ``Tuesday's murder may unfortunately signal the beginning of another wave of sectarian assassinations similar to what was witnessed across the North at the beginning of the year.''
Portadown councillors Breandan MacCionnaith and Joe Duffy have advised Catholics to exercise extreme vigilance following the sectarian murder of a Catholic worker at a Council depot on Tuesday.
``It is obvious that this murder, carried out in close proximity to the town centre, was the work of the Loyalist Volunteer Force,'' said MacCionnaith. ``Their victim was chosen for no reason other than being a Catholic and the location where he was employed made him an easy target.''
Adrian Lamph, a 30-year-old Catholic father of one from the Garvaghy Road area of Portadown, was shot dead by a lone gunman at a council skip yard off Duke Street in the loyalist Fair Green. At around 4pm, a gunman, wearing dark clothes, his face covered with a red, white and blue scarf and baseball cap and riding a mountain bike, singled his victim out before shooting Adrian Lamph at close range twice in the head. Adrian died less than two hours later at Craigavon District hospital. He had been working at the depot for less than six months.
``Coming less than 24 hours after a statement from the LVF which said they would not be calling a ceasefire,'' said MacCionnaith, ``Tuesday's murder may unfortunately signal the beginning of another wave of sectarian assassinations similar to what was witnessed across the North at the beginning of the year.''
