Schoolgirl beaten unconscious by loyalist gang

"When I got to the scene my daughter was lying on the ground covered with a blanket". These were the words of frightened father, Martin Cleary, whose daughter Laura was savagely beaten by loyalists in North Belfast on Monday night 13 December.

His 15-year-old daughter was rendered unconscious by the loyalist gang as she walked home along the Serpentine Road in North Belfast as she returned home at about 10.30pm with a friend.

The schoolgirls were walking along the Whitewell Road when loyalists, wearing Glasgow Rangers scarves, began their attack. Driving alongside the girls the loyalists shouted sectarian abuse.

The girls ran off towards the Serpentine Road and tried to escape behind a shop but the car followed them. Two of the attackers got out of the vehicle, all the while shouting sectarian abuse.

The thugs, thought to be involved with the UDA, then grabbed Laura and set about her with cudgels, possibly baseball bats, and beat her unconscious.

As Laura lay prone, one of her attackers kicked her in the ribs.

Luckily for Laura, her friend managed to flee the loyalists and ran for help.

Speaking to An Phoblacht, the girl's father Martin described how his daughter's attackers banged her head on the ground a number of times before kicking her in the ribs and jumping on her legs. She was taken to hospital where she received treatment for bruising to her head, ribs and legs. "The thugs who carried out this sectarian attack are nothing but scum," said Martin.

According to local people, the car used by the loyalist gang, consisting of three men and a woman, had been seen scouting the area earlier in the evening.

Sinn Féin Councillor David Kennedy told An Phoblacht that this was the fifth sectarian attack in North Belfast in just over a week and called for the immediate release of CCTV footage taken by PSNI cameras placed on interfaces.

Kennedy urged all nationalists, especially in North Belfast, to be very vigilant.

• Meanwhile, Sinn Féin has condemned a paint-bomb attack on the Fountain Estate in Derry City on Sunday night 12 December. Two devices were thrown over the wall from Bishop Street at around 10.10pm.