Family escapes injury in Derry gun attack

A couple and their four children escaped injury last night when their Co Derry home was attacked.

A couple and their four children escaped injury last night when their Co Derry home was attacked.

Five shots were fired through the living room window of the house in Coleraine shortly before midnight.

A man, his wife and their children, aged between 11 and 18, were upstairs at the time. A petrol bomb was also thrown at the family car, but it failed to ignite, police said. There were no arrests.

It is understood the family targeted, who are involved in community work in the area, have lived in the estate for more than 30 years. A pipe bomb was hurled through a window in their home in a previous sectarian attack last year.

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A 23-year-old man suffered severe bruising and a suspected fractured arm in a beating by a gang of masked men in Newtownards last night.

The man was upstairs in bed with his wife when the gang broke into their home at Meadow Park in the Co Down town.

The men dragged their victim out of bed and proceeded to beat him. They then made their escape, setting fire to the family car on the way out. A PSNI spokesman said a motive for the attack is as yet unknown

Also in Co Down, a 30-year-old man and a 14-year-old boy were injured in a shooting attack last night.

They are recovering in hospital where they were taken with minor injuries after the shooting in Barcroft Park, Newry.

The two were standing in the front garden of a house when a car pulled up and a number of shots were fired. The house received shotgun damage. A PSNI spokesman said a sectarian motive is not suspected.

Kilian Doyle

Kilian Doyle

Kilian Doyle is an Assistant News Editor at The Irish Times