Given the PSNI Chief Constable Matt Baggot’s current concern about certain communities, and confidence, the BBC report on the 18-year-old shot in both legs in the Creggan estate in Londonderry on Thursday night is worth noting. From the BBC report
His mother was told to take him to the location, and waited at the top of a lane while he was shot twice.
“I know what happened was wrong but hopefully he’ll get help,” she said.
The dissident group Republican Action Against Drugs (RAAD) is suspected to have been behind the attack, which been condemned by politicians and police.
The woman said she believed he was targeted “because he was dealing in drugs to feed his habit”.
“It should never have come to this, he shouldn’t have been doing what he was doing,” she said.
“I don’t agree with drug dealing and hopefully we can work from here to get him the help he needs.”
She said she was ordered to bring her son to a specific place in the Creggan estate.
“He walked down the lane – I was standing at the top – and I heard two shots,” she said.
“I ran down to him. There was blood coming from both of his legs, but he was lucid.
“I just did what had to be done.”
She said drugs were “rampant” among young people in Derry.
“I have witnessed the hallucinations, the depression – the weight loss is unbelievable and his mental state… I was losing my son through drugs,” she said.
Hmm…
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