A CATHOLIC father of seven was shot dead in his west Belfast home last night in an apparent sectarian attack. There were no immediate claims of responsibility but local people said that loyalists were involved.
The RUC said that it was too early to say who was behind the murder. The victim was named locally as Mr John Slane, a joiner, who was believed to be in his late 30s. His young family, including twin girls of 16 months, were in the house when he was killed. If loyalists were responsible, Mr Slane would be the first Catholic to be murdered by them this year. Mr Michael McGoldrick, a Catholic taxi-driver, was shot dead during the Drumcree stand-off last July.
There had been fears that the jailing last week of a leading loyalist, Mr Billy Wright, would increase tensions in the North. Sinn Fein said that loyalists were responsible for the killing and urged nationalists to be vigilant. The attack was condemned by SDLP MP Dr Joe Hendron and the Irish Republican Socialist Party.
The RUC said that a lone gunman burst into the house in Thames Court, in the Broadway area around 9 p.m., although local people insisted that two men were involved.
Mr Slane, who was in the kitchen preparing his babies' bottle, was shot five times in the chest from close range. He died at the scene. His attackers escaped in a waiting car. There were reports that the vehicle made off towards the nearby loyalist Village area.
A neighbour who saw the gunmen escape said: "They weren't wearing masks. They were in their early 20s. I saw one tucking his gun into his trousers. They were very calm. They weren't panicking at all.
"I started screaming. I knew John was dead. My husband went into the house and John's wife, Marty, was hysterical. She had been in another room and heard the shots but thought the kids were letting off fire-crackers.
"John was lying on his back in the kitchen floor. He had been preparing the babies' bottle and it was on the ground beside him. He had been making tea, too. The tea pot was boiling - there was a bullet hole in it. Marty was shouting at my husband to give him the kiss of life but I knew it was too late. One of John's sons was screaming - `My daddy, my daddy!"'
The woman's husband said that Mr Slane was a quiet family man with no political involvement. "He wasn't a trouble-maker. He was shot because he was a Catholic. He lived for his wife, his kids, his car and his home.
Describing the attack as callous,
RUC Supt Bob Foster said:
"Terrorists have visited our streets again and plunged another family into grief."
The SDLP's Dr Joe Hendron said that Mr Slane came from a good family who were heart-broken and couldn't understand why he had been targeted.
The RUC reported last night that following reports of suspicious activity in the area of the Derryhirk Inn near Lurgan, Co Armagh, police fired shots at a number of persons in the vicinity. In the past, the inn has been a target for loyalist paramilitaries.