A 20-year-old man was abducted and beaten in what appears to have been a paramilitary-style attack in north Belfast. The victim sustained severe bruising in the assault, which took place early yesterday.
The man was abducted from outside the Jamaica Inn public house in the Ardoyne area shortly after midnight by a number of masked men. He was driven around before being beaten and released in the Deerpark Road area at around 2.20 a.m.
The SDLP former Assembly member for north Belfast, Mr Alban Maginness, condemned the attack as a "human rights violation" and blamed it on the Provisional IRA. Meanwhile, a 51-year-old man suffered a broken nose and bruising after he was assaulted by two men as he lay sick in bed in his home in Ardglass, Co Down, on Monday evening. He is believed to be suffering from cancer.
The two men head-butted and punched him repeatedly. Police suspect a sectarian motive for the attack on the man, who is a Protestant.