Loyalists target memorial to murdered Catholic

A memorial erected by the family of Ciarán Cummings, a Catholic shot dead by unionist paramilitaries in Antrim in 2001, has been wrecked by loyalists. The wooden cross placed at the spot where the teenager was killed by UVF gunmen was smashed to pieces.

The 19-year-old was killed as he waited for his regular lift to work at the Greystone roundabout.

The sectarian attack is just the latest blow for the Cummings family. The original memorial at the scene of the shooting was destroyed by loyalists three times before it was replaced by the simple cross.

Sectarian graffiti mocking the Cummings family was painted near their Greystone home, and in May a gang of loyalists tied to attack the family as they slept.

Kathleen Cummings said the family don't bother anyone and can't understand why they cannot be left in peace. "They have already done the worst they could do, they murdered my child," she said. "I don't know how much more I can take."