17 July 1997 Edition
Crown forces attack family
Two young sisters from Drumbeg estate in Craigavon were hospitalised after being seriously assaulted by an RUC riot squad last Wednesday 9 July.
Seaneen Duggan (15), and her elder sister Sinead (18) were subjected to the horrifying ordeal when an RUC/British Army raiding party attacked Seaneen who they wrongly accused of video-recording an incident in which a crown forces patrol was beating a young boy. Eileen Duggan, the mother of the two girls spoke to An Phoblacht about the incident and said Seaneen was in the garden using a video camera she had just got for a birthday present when she noticed an incident in which the RUC were beating a young boy further down the street.
According to Ms Duggan the RUC reacted when they saw Seaneen with the camcorder, although she wasn't recording, and six riot-clad RUC men chased the 15 year old into the house. They were yelling ``Get the bitch!'' and the RUC broke into the Duggan house, chasing Seaneen. In a ferocious attack she was knocked unconscious, and her mother assaulted when she tried to pull the RUC off her daughter.
The RUC trampled over the unconscious Seaneen in order to attack her elder sister Sinead when she came in to help. Sinead was punched in the face. Eileen was trailed out of her house by her hair and put into an RUC jeep. Throughout the assault the family were subjected to verbal abuse. Both daughters were hospitalised. Sinead received treatment for severe bruising around the arms, while Seaneen had to be sedated.
Eileen was arrested for assaulting an RUC officer and resisting arrest, but insists she will take counter charges against the RUC. The RUC, meanwhile, told Duggan ``our advice is that it is in your own interest to drop the charges against us.'' Throughout the period the RUC refused to inform her of her daughter's condition.
Meanwhile Sinn Féin councillor for the area, Francie Murray, has told An Phoblacht that later that same night in the same area the crown forces assaulted a man in his late 20s as he returned from the cinema.
The man was crossing the road at Meadowbrook when British soldiers grabbed him and accused him of being involved in rioting.
The British soldiers told the man to lie down but as he is recovering from a road accident he couldn't lie down and the British soldiers assaulted him. ``One of the Brits who was wearing a helmet headbutted him,'' said Murray.
It wasn't until a British officer intervened that the assault ended, but when the man told his attackers he was going to file a complaint they attacked him a second time.
``It is clear that the crown forces operating in this area are running amok and are motivated by bigotry,'' Murray said.
Seaneen Duggan (15), and her elder sister Sinead (18) were subjected to the horrifying ordeal when an RUC/British Army raiding party attacked Seaneen who they wrongly accused of video-recording an incident in which a crown forces patrol was beating a young boy. Eileen Duggan, the mother of the two girls spoke to An Phoblacht about the incident and said Seaneen was in the garden using a video camera she had just got for a birthday present when she noticed an incident in which the RUC were beating a young boy further down the street.
According to Ms Duggan the RUC reacted when they saw Seaneen with the camcorder, although she wasn't recording, and six riot-clad RUC men chased the 15 year old into the house. They were yelling ``Get the bitch!'' and the RUC broke into the Duggan house, chasing Seaneen. In a ferocious attack she was knocked unconscious, and her mother assaulted when she tried to pull the RUC off her daughter.
The RUC trampled over the unconscious Seaneen in order to attack her elder sister Sinead when she came in to help. Sinead was punched in the face. Eileen was trailed out of her house by her hair and put into an RUC jeep. Throughout the assault the family were subjected to verbal abuse. Both daughters were hospitalised. Sinead received treatment for severe bruising around the arms, while Seaneen had to be sedated.
Eileen was arrested for assaulting an RUC officer and resisting arrest, but insists she will take counter charges against the RUC. The RUC, meanwhile, told Duggan ``our advice is that it is in your own interest to drop the charges against us.'' Throughout the period the RUC refused to inform her of her daughter's condition.
Meanwhile Sinn Féin councillor for the area, Francie Murray, has told An Phoblacht that later that same night in the same area the crown forces assaulted a man in his late 20s as he returned from the cinema.
The man was crossing the road at Meadowbrook when British soldiers grabbed him and accused him of being involved in rioting.
The British soldiers told the man to lie down but as he is recovering from a road accident he couldn't lie down and the British soldiers assaulted him. ``One of the Brits who was wearing a helmet headbutted him,'' said Murray.
It wasn't until a British officer intervened that the assault ended, but when the man told his attackers he was going to file a complaint they attacked him a second time.
``It is clear that the crown forces operating in this area are running amok and are motivated by bigotry,'' Murray said.