Rival Gangs Clashed….

The father-in-law of Hugh McNally, who was viciously assaulted and left critically ill in hospital after the sectarian attack in Belfast city centre last weekend, has criticised the PSNI’s response to the incident. Seamus Davis, a well known Antrim town based community worker, has slammed the PSNI for failing to arrest any of the loyalist/ nazi gang involved, who were filmed calmly walking away from the scene of the attack immediately after leaving his son-in-law for dead and after having assaulted a number of other unsuspecting victims in the King Street/ Castle Street area.

“How could this gang be abe to walk through the city centre, causing trouble in other bars and then walk all the way up Castle Street without the police being aware…The police were on the scene in minutes but these guys were able to carry on out of the area. It’s not as if they got away in some kind of get-away car. There are photos of them walking calmly out of the area towards the Europa Hotel.”

The PSNI have not confirmed reports that the gang were being monitored on CCTV camera prior to the incident, and whether or not the PSNI had earlier confiscated a Union Flag with refererences to Combat 18 on it from members of the gang in the city centre.

The Sunday World has reported that several British soldiers were amongst the attackers, also reporting that some- if not all- had attended the Linfield- Cliftonville clash earlier that day. The media reporting of the incident has also been the subject of much anger, with the suggestion of ‘rival gangs clashing’ evoking memories of the RUC’s statement immediately following the Robert Hamill attack in Portadown.

Categories Uncategorised

We are reader supported. Donate to keep Slugger lit!

For over 20 years, Slugger has been an independent place for debate and new ideas. We have published over 40,000 posts and over one and a half million comments on the site. Each month we have over 70,000 readers. All this we have accomplished with only volunteers we have never had any paid staff.

Slugger does not receive any funding, and we respect our readers, so we will never run intrusive ads or sponsored posts. Instead, we are reader-supported. Help us keep Slugger independent by becoming a friend of Slugger. While we run a tight ship and no one gets paid to write, we need money to help us cover our costs.

If you like what we do, we are asking you to consider giving a monthly donation of any amount, or you can give a one-off donation. Any amount is appreciated.