7 August 1997 Edition
LVF attempt to kill taxi driver
A CRAIGAVON TAXI DRIVER Jim McKerr had a lucky escape when loyalist gunmen attempted to kill him in Parkmore, a loyalist area in Craigavon. The Loyalist Volunteer Force, claiming responsibility for the attempted murder, warned nationalists to stay out of loyalist areas.
According to McKerr, who drives for a local firm whose drivers are all Catholic, he went to Parkmore to pick up a fare when he noticed a man approaching his car from behind.
The driver saw the man was brandishing a gun and tried to drive away but before he could do anything the gunman pulled his door open.
``I tried to close the door and couldn't so I pushed it open and hit the gunman who stumbled back. I then got the car into reverse, but before I could get away the gunman smashed the window and put the gun to my head, but I managed to drive off. Then the second man threw a petrol bomb at the car. It hit the windscreen and fell to the ground but the second petrol bomb ignited at the back of the car and I thought the car was on fire,'' reported a shaken McKerr who has been prescribed nerve tablets by his doctor.
The driver went straight to the RUC at Craigavon and reported the incident and in a follow up operation the RUC sent 6 RUC members in two cars into the estate.
Martin Byrne, a cousin of McKerr, was found shot dead in his taxi near Lurgan in 1990. The PAF killed him and also killed another cousin of McKerr's, Eileen Duffy who was shot dead with two others when the loyalists attacked a mobile shop in Craigavon.
According to McKerr, who drives for a local firm whose drivers are all Catholic, he went to Parkmore to pick up a fare when he noticed a man approaching his car from behind.
The driver saw the man was brandishing a gun and tried to drive away but before he could do anything the gunman pulled his door open.
``I tried to close the door and couldn't so I pushed it open and hit the gunman who stumbled back. I then got the car into reverse, but before I could get away the gunman smashed the window and put the gun to my head, but I managed to drive off. Then the second man threw a petrol bomb at the car. It hit the windscreen and fell to the ground but the second petrol bomb ignited at the back of the car and I thought the car was on fire,'' reported a shaken McKerr who has been prescribed nerve tablets by his doctor.
The driver went straight to the RUC at Craigavon and reported the incident and in a follow up operation the RUC sent 6 RUC members in two cars into the estate.
Martin Byrne, a cousin of McKerr, was found shot dead in his taxi near Lurgan in 1990. The PAF killed him and also killed another cousin of McKerr's, Eileen Duffy who was shot dead with two others when the loyalists attacked a mobile shop in Craigavon.