Car thieves brutally beat a man in his home near Belfast today after he refused to hand over the keys to his car. It is the latest of a series of attacks which has led to a local MLA calling for the introduction of the controversial three-strikes rule used in some US states.
The latest victim suffered head and leg injuries in the overnight attack by gangs trying to steal vehicles across the city. His wife and three grandchildren werre in the house at the time.
Three men armed with a crowbar smashed their way into his house in Upper Green, Dunmurry at about 4.30 a.m., police said.
After he resisted the gang launched a vicious assault on him before stealing the car, which was later recovered.
The beating is the latest in a spiralling series of attacks this week which has led to new demands for tougher prison sentences.
Earlier this week a 21-year-old man was charged with attempted murder for hitting a Belfast man with a hammer as thieves tried to steal a car from his home.
Mr Maurice McCracken (54) is still in hospital with serious head injuries.
In west Belfast, a 71-year-old priest was attacked before his car was stolen yesterday.
And a teenager in Newtownards, Co Down was bludgeoned in another hammer attack by masked raiders who then escaped in his parents' BMW with money and jewellery.
Car thieves also injured four police officers after in a ramming incident yesterday.
Mr Edwin Poots, a DUP Assembly, called on the courts to put the thieves behind bars for years.
He claimed: "These people are just laughing at the law. I'm aware of cases where they come to court, walk out and steal a car to get home."
"Car criminals need to be told: 'Three strikes and you're out.
"If they don't stop they should be jailed for 10 years. The message would soon get through and crime levels would be decimated with two years."
The three-strikes rule, as used in the States, means anyone caught committing any criminal offence, however petty, three times is jailed for a 25-year minimum.
PA